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.
• Frequent tower kills indicate nocturnal migration.
• Short distance migrant; weak flier.

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.

BNA Misc Migration Info

Direct quotes from the Birds of North America report on the GCKI:

• Unknown if this species migrates as solitary individuals or in flocks.
• Few, if any, localities have only migrants.
  • Most localities show overlap between breeding and migration or wintering and migration.
• We assume that since this species is found in single-species and/or mixed-species flocks during winter, it probably joins such groups during migration.
• Overlap between residents and migrants also precludes easy determination of what proportion of the species population migrates and how long individuals remain at a stopover site.
• Long-term banding studies are needed to answer these questions.

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.

Wintering GCKI

Winter Flocks

Look for chickadees

• Birds commonly associated with a winter flock of chickadees:
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch
  • White-breasted Nuthatch
  • Brown Creeper
  • Downy Woodpecker
  • Tufted Titmouse
• Chickadee flocks probably primary attractors for other birds.
  • Other birds are almost never associated with each other in the absence of chickadees.
• Chickadees are always by far the most numerous and the most noisy of any mixed-species flock.
• Chickadees easy to spot; others are usually quiet and harder to locate when by themselves.
• Birds in mixed-species flock work together in search for food and to watch for predators.

GCKI groups

• Form cohesive winter groups of two to five individuals.
• Kinglets vocalize often during day to keep group together.
• Important for group to maintain close contact during the day for huddling at night.
• Make special calls when approaching their sleeping place.
• Calls used to attract members of the kinglet foraging group.
• Group huddles together for warmth to help survive cold nights.
• Two may be enough.