Ruby-crowned kinglet

Regulus calendula

Photo by Guy Poisson (Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:
ruby-crowned kinglet (en); estrelinha-de-coroa-rubi (pt); roitelet à couronne rubis (fr); reyezuelo rubí (es); rubingoldhähnchen (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Regulidae

Range:
This species breeds throughout Canada, in the norther-eastern United States and in the western United States as far south as New Mexico, Arizona and southern California. Most population migrate south to winter in the western and southern United States, Mexico and Guatemala.

Size:
These birds are 9-11 cm long and have a wingspan of 15-18 cm. They weigh 5-10 g.

Habitat:
Ruby-crowned kinglets breed mostly in spruce-fir coniferous forests and also in some mixed deciduous and coniferous forests. Outside the breeding season they also use moist tropical forests and mountain scrublands. This species is found from sea level up to an altitude of 1-300 m.

Diet:
They feed on spiders, pseudoscorpions, and many types of insects, including aphids, wasps, ants, and bark beetles. They also eat some berries and tree sap.

Breeding:
The ruby-crowned kinglet is monogamous and breeds in May-July. The female builds the nest alone, a globed shaped structure made of grasses, feathers, mosses, spider webs and cocoon silk, and lined fine plant material and fur. It is placed in a small branch near the trunk of a tree, 5-30 m above the ground. She lays 5-12 whitish eggs with red-brown spots, which she incubates alone for 12-14 days. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 12-18 days after hatching.

Conservation:
IUCN status -LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 70 million individuals. The population has undergone a small increase over the last 4 decades.