Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Corthylio calendula
A female Ruby-crowned Kinglet can lay a clutch of up to 12 eggs, which together can weigh more than the mother bird herself.
- Scientific name
- Corthylio calendula
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Passeriformes › Regulidae › Corthylio
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Coniferous and mixed-coniferous forests, shrublands, and deciduous woodlands.
- Diet
- Mainly insects, spiders, and insect eggs, supplemented by berries and tree sap.
- Range
- North America, Canada, United States, Mexico
- Size
- 9 to 11 cm in length, weighing 5 to 10 grams
- Lifespan
- 2 to 5 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat fragmentation, window collisions, domestic cat predation, and pesticide exposure reducing insect prey.
- Safe to approach?
- Completely harmless and highly active. You can safely observe them from a close distance as they flit through branches. Avoid disturbing active nests during spring. They pose no physical threat or danger to humans.
The ruby-crowned kinglet ( Corthylio calendula ) is a very small passerine bird found throughout North America. It is a member of the kinglet family. The bird has olive-green plumage with two white wing bars and a white eye-ring. Males have a red crown patch, which is usually concealed. The sexes are identical (apart from the crown), and juveniles are similar in plumage to adults. It is one of the smallest songbirds in North America. The ruby-crowned kinglet...
Photo: Mykola Swarnyk, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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