For a few weeks now I’ve been spying (from my bedroom window) on a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. He (or she) has been busily gleaning insects from the branches of a white birch growing close to my house. The male has a red crown, which is not at all easy to see. (Notice the tiny dab of color visible in this U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo). Apparently, this ruby crown is more evident when the bird raises his head feathers in display or agitation.
I keep a small pair of binoculars by my bedside specifically to spy on the birds that congregate all the year long in the branches of this white birch. For the last two weeks or so, the birch has been host to this active, tiny kinglet. In color, this bird is a drab olive-grey but even so is pretty easy to identify—if you have binoculars. First, it’s a tiny bird, only 3.5 to 4.5 inches, approximately. Second, it has a very conspicuous white eye-ring, referred to as “broken” because it doesn’t entirely circle the eye or not in a consistent width. The bird I’ve been watching these last few weeks has eye-rings, which though “broken,” are much more prominent than shown in this photo. Third and the final “giveaway” is this bird’s habit of hovering (almost like a hummingbird) to glean insects from the tips of branches and foliage. Did I say “final”? Let me quickly add one more behavior—he’s very active, flitting here, there, and everywhere, so that you’d better be ready to keep up!
I only see the kinglet during its seasonal migrations because this bird summers far north in Canada and winters farther south all across the United States and into Central America. Check out the range map for this species at All About Birds.
What's especially delightful about this tiny kinglet is that he stays to visit a good long time and spends much of that time in a white birch outside my window.
Till next time . . . Keep birds in your heart!
Georgia Anne
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