Species

Golden-crowned kinglet

Regulus satrapa

One of the smallest songbirds in North America, a striped-faced sprite of winter conifers.

Photo skitterbug (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab)

Adaptation

At a glance

Size: About 8 to 11 cm long
Weight: About 4 to 8 g
Habitat: Conifers and mixed woods in winter
Diet: Tiny insects and their eggs
In Georgia: An uncommon winter visitor; a few nest in the high mountains
Voice: A very high "tsee-tsee-tsee"
Rabies vector: No

Identification

Key marks: Tiny; olive-grey; bold black-and-white striped face; yellow crown with orange centre in males
Told apart from: Ruby-crowned kinglet, which has a plain face with an eye-ring
Where to look: Pines and other conifers in winter

Behaviour

Golden-crowned kinglets hunt tiny insects on conifer needles and survive nights far below freezing, sometimes huddling together.

Why they matter

Weighing about as much as two pennies, this kinglet survives cold winters by eating almost constantly by day. It is a remarkable example of how tiny animals endure the cold.

Reproduction and lifecycle

Nest — A deep cup of moss hanging in a conifer
Eggs — Usually 8 to 9
Incubation — About 15 days
Chicks — Fed by both parents
Flight — At about 16 to 19 days
Lifespan — A few years

Living around people

Conifers in parks and yards give them winter feeding places.

Misconceptions

Such small birds must migrate far south. Golden-crowned kinglets winter as far north as Canada.

Related species

Seasonal activity

When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.

Breeding and active nests by month for this species
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Breeding	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Active nests	Jan: no	Feb: no	Mar: no	Apr: no	May: no	Jun: no	Jul: no	Aug: no	Sep: no	Oct: no	Nov: no	Dec: no
Notes	Wintering	Wintering	Leaving	Nesting in the north and high mountains	Nesting	Chicks	Second broods	Present in the north	Migrating	Arriving	Wintering	Wintering

Where it lives

Recorded in 70 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.

Canada

Mexico

If you found one

Answer a few questions and you will get a specific answer for what you are looking at.

I found an animal