Common Name: Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Scientific Name: Corthylio calendula
Order/Family: Passeriformes/Regulidae (Kinglets)
Description: The ruby-crowned kinglet is a very small bird. It has gray-green upperparts and olive-buff underparts. It has two white wingbars and a broken white eye ring. The wingbar on the greater secondary coverts (closer to the wing-tip) is wider, and is next to a dark band. The kinglet has a relatively plain face and head, although the male has a scarlet-red crown patch, which is usually concealed by the surrounding feathers. The crown patch is rarely orange, yellow, or not present. Females are identical to males (except for the crown). Immature birds are similar to adult females, since young males lack a crown patch. The kinglet usually moves along branches or through foliage with short hops, and flies with bursts of rapid wing beats. It is constantly active, and is easily recognized by its characteristic wing-flicking. Its flight has been described as “swift, jerky, and erratic”.
Distribution: Their breeding habitat is coniferous forests across Canada, Alaska, northern New England and the western United States.
Habitat: They nest in a well-concealed hanging cup suspended from a conifer branch and may lay as many as twelve eggs in a clutch.
