They're almost as tiny as hummingbirds, but these colorful birds are amazingly hardy.
Golden-crowned kinglet. (Courtesy Walter Siegmund)
Hi, this is Scott Fitzpatrick from New Hampshire Audubon, bringing you Something Wild.
One of the most delightful birds you can see on a winter hike is the golden-crowned kinglet.
They're diminuitive birds, usually less than four inches long, and weighing about five grams, or the same as five average-sized raisins.
They tend to prefer the dense cover of thick spruce forests for much of the year, but as winter approaches families move from their conifer nesting sites into more open forests, giving us a much better chance of seeing them.
Usually you'll hear golden-crowned kinglets long before you see them. Listen for a very high-pitched, lisping call.
Watch for them quickly flitting along small branches, often high off the ground, where they forage for tiny spiders, mites and insect eggs. They often flick their wings as they move about.
Golden-crowned kinglets are olive-covered above and beige below, with bold black and white facial stripes. Males have orange crown patches bordered with yellow and black, while female crown patches are all yellow.
For such tiny birds, barely bigger than hummingbirds, kinglets are amazingly hardy. They can survive extremely cold temperatures, down to 25 degrees below zero, by constantly eating. To survive bitter cold nights, they gather in groups in tree cavities or empty squirrel nests and huddle together for warmth.
Come spring, golden-crowned kinglets work together to feed their first brood of eight or nine young. Once the young fledge, the female feeds them only for the first day; then she lays a second set of eggs while the male continues to care for the first brood! The busy male somehow manages to feed the youngsters and the incubating female all by himself. When the second brood fledges, both parents feed the young.
For Something Wild, I'm Scott Fitzpatrick.
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