Golden-crowned Kinglet

Description

• Regulus ("little king") satrapa
• Among NA birds, only some hummingbirds are smaller.
• Neckless, plump, small pointy bill, beady black eyes, no eye-ring.
• Short, narrow, deeply notched tail.
• In all plumages, a greenish gray bird with bold black markings on face.
• Both sexes olive above, whitish (not olive) underparts.
• White-and-yellowish wing pattern with black and white wing bars.
• Adults, yellow and orange crown-patch (in female, yellow only), bordered by black.
• Orange portion of male crown-patch concealed.
• RCKI is slightly larger, uniformly plainer, less distinctly patterned, overall greener than GCKI.
• GCKI: L 3 1/2" - 4", WT 0.21 oz (6 g)
• RCKI: L 4" - 4 1/4", WT 0.23 oz (6.5 g)
• 4 to 6 subspecies. Differences related to white eyebrow length, upperparts color, underparts color, contrast diffs between wing bars and secondary edges, bill shape.

Song

• Rarely sings during migration??? - BNA
• Song is easily missed.
• High-pitched, weak, rising series of thin notes followed by tumbling, chickadee-like, squeaky laughter.
• The laughing-part is more noticeable than beginning part of song.
• Call a very high, thin, usually "see-see-see" or "zee-zee-zee".
• Very high, weak "tip" notes.
• Also, very short trill-like sound similar to Brown Creeper call.
• "see-see-see" call more noticeable than song and best way to locate GCKI.
• RCKI song is lower-pitched, louder, more musical. One of my favorites.
• RCKI call a husky dry "jidit".

Behavior

• Extremely active forager, twice as fast as warblers.
• Prefers conifers year round.
• Migration at Magee:
  • Seems to prefer bushes and small to mid-sized deciduous trees with a lot of twigs or very small branches packed close together.
  • Also likes bushes and small trees with vines tangled through them.
  • Inspects dead, shriveled up leaves still attached to tree/bush.
  • Picks at the intersection of twigs.
  • Hops from twig to twig.
  • More frequent hovering in pines by hawk tower.
  • Forage anywhere from treetops to the ground; mostly 5' to 30' high; generally higher than RCKI.
  • Usually found in groups of 3 to 10.
  • Both kinglets are fearless; birders at times can get within an arm's length of them.
• Wing-flicking action while foraging, but less than RCKI.
• RCKI is more prone to hovering and flycatching.
• GCKI does more hanging upside down, chickadee-style, than RCKI.
• GCKI more social than RCKI.
• GCKI often joins mixed-species foraging flocks during migration and in winter.
  • In winter, associates with chickadees, woodpeckers, titmice, nuthatches, and creepers.
• GCKI is so-so responder to pishing.
• GCKI is almost exclusively insectivorous. Rarely eats fruit or seeds.
  • Diet: small beetles, gnats, caterpillars, scale insects, aphids, spiders, insect eggs.

Spring Migration

• Info from "Birds of Toledo" and "Birds of Ohio".

• Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • As a result of winter mortality, fewer GCKI pass through Ohio in the spring.
  • Still fairly common to common spring migrants.
  • Most observations of 20 or fewer.
  • Occasional flights of 50-150+ along Lake Erie.
  • Largest spring flights produce counts of 250-350 from western Lake Erie.
  • Maximum one-day count of 350 on April 11, 1992.
  • First migrants appear by March 20-30.
  • Largest concentrations reported during the first three weeks of April.
  • A few linger along Lake Erie through May 7-14.
  • Latest spring departure May 23, 1937.

• Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Most numerous between April 15 and May 10.
  • Largest spring movements total 100-180+ along Lake Erie.

• My GCKI observations
  • From hawk watching on tower, usually see first migrating GCKI on March 15-20.
  • In 2007, saw first GCKI migrants on March 22.
    • Approx 50 GCKI along boardwalk on March 29, 2007.
  • Have had triple-digit GCKI spring days on Magee boardwalk and at RIVP.
  • By approx third week of April, kinglet numbers lean more to the RCKI side.
  • Only one May GCKI sighting on IMBD a few years ago.

Fall Migration

• Info from "Birds of Toledo" and "Birds of Ohio".

• Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • Largest numbers of GCKI occur during the fall.
  • Normally return to the lakefront by Septebmer 15-22.
  • Largest concentration of GCKI occur during October.
  • Flights have produced 100-800+ GCKI.
  • Because of an unusual combination of weather conditions on October 7, 1954, at Put-in-Bay, Dr. Milton B. Trautman estimated 25,000 to 50,000 passed over South Bass Island.

• Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Early RCKI return to Lake Erie by August 16-19
  • Migration normally begins during first half of September.
  • Movements of 100-250+ are occasionally encountered, while daily totals normally are 5-40 along the lakefront.
  • RCKI don't congregate in numbers as large as GCKI.
  • One-day count of 400 observed on October 5, 1986, during the monthly count at ONWR.

Christmas Bird Count

107th Annual Christmas Bird Count - December 14th 2006 to January 5th 2007

• Fremont Dec 17, 2006 : GCKI=13 RCKI=1
• Lake Erie Islands Dec 17, 2006 : GCKI=168 RCKI=6
• Toledo Dec 2006 Info not a Audubon Web site
• Rudolph-Bowling Green Dec 23, 2006 : GCKI=15 RCKI=0
• Grand-Rapids/ Waterville Dec 30, 2006: GCKI=170 RCKI=1
• ONWR Dec 31, 2006 GCKI=28 Ties High RCKI=0

Historical CBC Data for GCKI

For the 80th thru 106th years (1979/80 thru 2005/06)

ONWR CBC GCKI Counts

Dec 23, 1979 - 7
Jan 04, 1981 - 0
Jan 03, 1982 - 0
Jan 02, 1983 - 8
Jan 01, 1984 - 0
Dec 30, 1984 - 2
Jan 05, 1986 - 1
Jan 04, 1987 - 5
Jan 03, 1988 - 7
Jan 01, 1989 - 10
Dec 31, 1989 - 0
Dec 25, 1990 - 8
Dec 25, 1991 - 3
Dec 25, 1992 - 16
Dec 25, 1993 - 4
Dec 25, 1994 - 2
Dec 25, 1995 - 10
Dec 25, 1996 - 0
Dec 25, 1997 - 9
Jan 03, 1999 - 0
Jan 02, 2000 - 0
Dec 31, 2000 - 0
Jan 05, 2002 - 0
Jan 05, 2003 - 5
Jan 04, 2004 - 0
Jan 02, 2005 - 3
Jan 01, 2006 - 1

Toledo CBC GCKI Counts

Dec 16, 1979 - 55
Dec 21, 1980 - 135
Dec 20, 1981 - 12
Dec 19, 1982 - 42
Dec 18, 1983 - 5
Dec 16, 1984 - 18
Dec 22, 1985 - 46
Dec 21, 1986 - 183
Dec 20, 1987 - 35
Dec 18, 1988 - 4
Dec 17, 1989 - 2
Dec 25, 1990 - 11
Dec 25, 1991 - 13
Dec 25, 1992 - 9
Dec 25, 1993 - 12
Dec 25, 1994 - 51
Dec 25, 1995 - 6
Dec 25, 1996 - 0
Dec 25, 1997 - 3
Dec 20, 1998 - 14
Dec 19, 1999 - 5
Dec 17, 2000 - 5
Dec 16, 2001 - 0
Dec 15, 2002 - 7
Dec 14, 2003 - 9
Dec 19, 2004 - 5
Dec 18, 2005 - 2

Grand Rapids-Waterville

Dec 31, 1979 - 101
Dec 20, 1980 - 72
Dec 31, 1981 - 31
Jan 02, 1983 - 24
Dec 31, 1983 - 0
Dec 31, 1984 - 33
Dec 29, 1985 - 55
Dec 20, 1986 - 61
Jan 02, 1988 - 71
Dec 31, 1988 - 41
Dec 30, 1989 - 116
Dec 25, 1990 - 223
Dec 25, 1991 - 142
Dec 25, 1992 - 48
Dec 25, 1993 - 63
Dec 25, 1994 - 51
Dec 25, 1995 - 31
Dec 25, 1996 - 131
Dec 25, 1997 - 131
Jan 02, 1999 - 29
Dec 26, 1999 - 57
Dec 30, 2000 - 83
Dec 29, 2001 - 44
Dec 29, 2002 - 142
Dec 21, 2003 - 9
Jan 02, 2005 - 70
Dec 31, 2005 - 45

My 2007 winter obs

• 3 GCKI at 577 Foundation in Perrysburg in mid-Jan.
• 1 GCKI in MBSP campground in late Jan.
• 3 GCKI on Feb 28 by hawk tower.

My 2004 WBA survey of MSF

• GCKI observed
  • Jan 10 - xx Temp 10 F
  • Jan 16 - xx Temp 5 F
  • Jan 24 - x Temp 10 F
  • Jan 31 - none Temp 6 F
• Mostly observed GCKI in pines with chickadees.
• One morning, a couple GCKI pecked around on the crunchy snow.