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Golden-crowned Kinglet

Status Common resident. Breeds. It is widely distributed throughout coniferous woodlands, where its numbers vary from year to year, but in some localities it is uncommon to rare during an entire breeding season. It becomes more evident in fall and winter. During September, fall migrants are encountered in large flocks moving through the woods and over the offshore islands. There were hundreds on Seal Island on 8-23 October 1980, and 500 or more were on Brier Island on 10 October 1983. Many remain during winter, when they are often the only bird encountered in deep woods, their "sleigh bell" calls betraying their presence in the tall spruces. Return migration in spring is evident in records from mid-April to mid-May on Sable Island.

Description Length: 9-10 cm. Adult male: A broad stripe of bright orange on top of head with stripes of yellow and black bordering it; back olive-green, wings and tail darker; two grayish white wing bars; underparts whitish gray. Adult female: Similar but orange on crown replaced with bright yellow. Both sexes: White eyebrow lines.

Breeding Nest: Pensile from near the end of a long branch of a large spruce, well concealed among thick clusters of drooping twigs to which it is attached, at heights of 2-12 m or more, in evergreen woods. It is ingeniously constructed, the foundation being of green moss, strips of fine bark, wood fibre, plant down, hairs and lichens, all compactly interwoven, with a lining of feathers exquisitely arranged so as to curl up and over the entrance, which is on the top. Feathers from the Ruffed Grouse are most commonly used, but I recall one nest that was beautifully lined with feathers from the back of a Blue Jay. The interior is comparatively large and spherical, but the opening is small, an arrangement necessary to accommodate the large family it is destined to hold.

Eggs: 8-10, usually 9; white or creamy white, lightly specked and wreathed principally around the larger end with light brown or pale lavender. Of 34 nests I have recorded, 22 contained nine eggs, 9 had ten, and 3 held sets of eight; laying was complete in all, but the last 3 were delayed nesting attempts. The earliest date in my records for the beginning of nest construction is 10 April but 16 April is average. Laying begins about 1 May. My earliest record for a complete set is 12 May 1913, when four sets of 10 eggs and one of 9 were examined on Wolfville Ridge, all the eggs being fresh. If the first and second nests are lost, the pair will attempt a third. If the third is lost, they will sometimes start construction of a fourth nest, but this one probably will not be finished. Two third nests in which laying was complete, with eight fresh eggs each, were examined on 30 June 1915 and 29 June 1917. These two nests were not typical, however; they were loosely constructed as though put together in haste.

Range Breeds in coniferous forests from southern Alaska, the southern Yukon, northern Alberta, central Manitoba, southern Quebec, and Newfoundland, south to North Carolina in the mountains, northern Michigan, and southern California. Winters in southern Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Remarks The female appears to do all the incubating, while the male spends his time wandering about in a desultory manner and without animation within about 50 m of the nest tree, his notes low and subdued as though he were talking to himself. But with amazing timing the female leaves the nest about every 15 minutes and hurries to join him. Then his whole manner changes. His notes become spirited and, when they meet, he immediately offers her food, which she accepts with fluttering wings suggestive of a fledgling. During his search for more food she trails close behind, and both are extremely noisy. He feeds her four or five times in the manner described and then suddenly the excitement subsides and she is off in a bee-line to her nest, where she remains for another 15 minutes, after which the performance is repeated. Whether this pattern continues to be followed during the inclemency of a rain storm, I am unable to say.

The song, like a cut-short song of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, is quieter and descends toward the end in tone and volume.