Winter Bird Atlas Profile - Golden-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)

Among North American birds, only certain hummingbirds are smaller than the Golden-crowned Kinglet (Sibley 2001). Despite being widespread, it's easily overlooked due to its tiny size, preference for conifers, weak song, and drab, greenish-gray plumage. It's best located and identified by its high, thin "see-see-see" call and yellow crown patch. Males have a thin orange stripe within the yellow.

The Golden-crowned Kinglet is a fast, acrobatic forager, moving twice as fast as warblers. Due to its amazing ability to survive bitter cold northern winters, Bernd Heinrich who conducted research on wintering Golden-crowned Kinglets, said, "Given its minute, twopenny weight (5 to 6 grams), how such an individual could survive the energy crunch on a cold, sixteen-hour-long winter night is an unimaginable marvel from our human perspective -- it defies physics and physiology" (Heinrich 2003).

General Status

The Golden-crowned Kinglet is a common and widespread breeder of northern and mountainous regions (Dunne 2006). It breeds across the southern half of Canada and the northern Great Lakes states, and it's a year-round resident along the southern coast of Alaska, the west coast of Canada, New England, the Mountain West states, and the U.S. West Coast (Ingold and Galati 1997).

The Golden-crowned Kinglet nests high in conifers. It has expanded its breeding range southward due to spruce plantings in sub-boreal regions (Dunne 2006). The Golden-crowned Kinglet uses a method called "double-clutching" to produce numerous young in a short time.

Soon after the young have hatched in the first nesting, the female builds another nest and incubates a second set of 8 to 10 eggs while the male continues to care for the young of the first brood (Galati 1991). The Golden-crowned Kinglet produces many young because it suffers a high winter mortality rate (Heinrich 2003).

Golden-crowned Kinglets build a small, deep cup nest, averaging 50 feet above the ground on a horiztonal branch, close to the tree trunk of a conifer (Kaufman 1996). Some of these well-concealed nests suspend from twigs (Galati 1991). These factors make it difficult to study their nesting habits. Carlyn and Robert Galati conducted the most extensive research to date on nesting Golden-crowned Kinglets in 1954-1960 in Minnesota.

The Golden-crowned Kinglet is a widespread winter resident in the U.S. It likes to congregate with other Golden-crowned Kinglets, forming small groups that are often found in mixed-species flocks, foraging in both coniferous and deciduous habitats in woodlands, swamps, parks, and cemeteries.

Golden-crowned Kinglet numbers seem healthy (Kaufman 1996). Data from the Breeding Bird Survey and Christmas Bird Counts indicate a modest population increase in recent decades (Sibley 2001). Populations, however, may drop after harsh winters, and 100% local mortality is possible during pro-longed periods of severe weather, but it can recover quickly because of its high reproductive rate (Heinrich 2003).

Ohio Status

Ohio's first breeding pair of Golden-crowned Kinglets were reported in Columbiana County during 1962-1963, and only a handful of nesting records have been recorded prior to 2000 (Peterjohn 2001). Golden-crowned Kinglets are considered to be accidental to rare summer residents. Breeding birds occupy ornamental spruces, pine plantations, and hemlock forests (Peterjohn 2001). In May of 1991, Tom Kemp discovered Ohio's first Golden-crowned Kinglet nest in the Maumee State Forest near Toledo, Ohio (Anderson, Durbin, Kemp, Lauer, Tramer 2002). These few reports show nesting activities begin in late April or early May with most fledgelings being seen between mid-June and early-July (Peterjohn 2001).

Golden-crowned Kinglets are best viewed in Ohio during the spring and fall migrations with the largest numbers occurring in the fall, especially along Lake Erie. Golden-crowned Kinglets return to Ohio in late-September, and their numbers peak in October when it's possible to observe one-day totals of 100-800 along Lake Erie and less than 30 in the interior (Peterjohn 2001).

Because of winter mortality, fewer Golden-crowned Kinglets pass through Ohio in the spring, but they are still fairly common to common migrants (Peterjohn 2001). Their spring flight through Ohio occurs in March and April.

Golden-crowned Kinglets usually migrate in small groups, sometimes with mixed-species flocks. They forage anywhere from the treetops to the ground. If conifers are lacking, they will forage in bushes, tangled vines, and deciduous trees. (per. obs. Sawvel).

Golden-crowned Kinglets are uncommon to common Ohio winter residents, occupying both coniferous and deciduous habitats (Peterjohn 2001). One-day counts number less than 30, but Christmas Bird Counts can tally more than 100 during abundant years (Peterjohn 2001). Harsh weather can make Golden-crowned Kinglets scarce in late winter (Peterjohn 2001).

Winter Ecology

Golden-crownded Kinglets form small groups that can be found in mixed-species flocks comprised of nuthatches, Brown Creepers, Downy Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmice, and chickadees. Sometimes the best way to find winter Golden-crowend Kinglets is to listen for a chickadee group.

Golden-crowned Kinglets are insectivorous. Their short, weak bills are meant for gleaning insects from twigs (Heinrich 2003). Their winter food source had been a mystery.

Bernd Heinrich, a University of Vermont Biology professor, began conducting research on wintering Golden-crowned Kinglets in Maine in the 1990s. It was thought that Golden-crowned Kinglets ate "snow fleas" (Hypogastrura tooliki), but Heinrich discovered that they ate geometrid ("inch worm") caterpillars, which are the larva for the One-spotted Variant moth (Hypagyrtis unipunctata).

It also used to be a mystery how the tiny Golden-crowned Kinglets survived cold nights. It's believed that they do not enter a state of torpor (Sibley 2001). Huddling together in protected areas is the main method used to stay warm at night, which is why they form groups during the day (Heinrich 2003).

Heinrich said about Golden-crowned Kinglets, "87 percent of the population is on average normally weeded out every year. Kinglets are as close to an annual bird as any bird gets."

Its high winter death rate is due to living close to the energy edge. It would starve or freeze to death if it goes without food for only one or two hours in the daytime (Heinrich 2003).

Atlas Conclusions

The Winter Bird Atlas map shows several large areas with no Golden-crowned Kinglet sightings. The areas with the highest numbers coincide with the most coverage. Glaciated northwest Ohio reported the least number of sightings even though this area reported a respectable number of other bird species. A lack of preferred habitat could be the reason for the low counts. But large areas of no reports also exist in unglaciated southeast Ohio, but this may be due to lack of coverage.

Although difficult to observe, wintering Golden-crowned Kinglets will use multiple habitats in a variety of settings. This means it's possible to find Golden-crowned Kinglets in most areas, given enough observation time. A block in northwest Ohio and a block in southeast Ohio both reported a high amount of coverage time and a high number of Golden-crowned Kinglets even though both blocks were surrounded by large areas with no sightings.

Literature Cited

Anderson, M., E. Durbin, T. Kemp, S. Lauer, and E. Tramer. 2002. Birds of the Toledo Area. Ohio Biological Survey, Columbus, OH.

Dunne, P. 2006. Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA.

Galati, R. 1991. Golden-crowned Kinglets. Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA.

Heinrich, B. 2003. Winter World. HarperCollins Publishers Inc., New York, NY.

Ingold, J. L., R. Galati. 1997. Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa). The Birds of North America, No. 301 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.) The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

Kaufman, K. 1996. Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA.

Peterjohn, B.G. 2001. The Birds of Ohio. The Wooster Book Co., Wooster, OH.

Sibley, D. A. 2001. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY.