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.

Firecrest

Regulus ignicapillus

Photo by Johan Stenlund (PBase)

Common name:

firecrest (en); estrelinha-de-cabeça-listada (pt); roitelet à triple bandeau (fr); reyezuelo listado (es); sommergoldhähnchen (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Regulidae

Range:

The firecrest breeds mostly in Europe, from southern England, France, Spain and Portugal, east to Belarus, north-western Ukraine and Greece, and north to the Baltic and southern Latvia. There are isolated populations in the east, in Abkhazia, Crimea, Turkey, and in the western Mediterranean, in the Balearic islands, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. Southern birds are largely resident, unlike the northern and eastern populations which migrate to the Mediterranean basin in winter.

Size:

These tinny birds are 9cm long and have a wingspan of 13-16 cm. they weigh 4-7 g.

Habitat:

It breeds in lowland broadleaf forest, preferring cork oak and alder where available, otherwise beech and holly. It also uses mixed broadleaf and conifer woodland, and stands of spruce, European silver fir, cedar and pines, often with undergrowth of juniper, ivy and wild rose. In drier Mediterranean habitats it is found in conifers, evergreen oaks, and mixed woodlands up to 2.800 m.

Diet:

They are almost exclusively insectivorous, preying on small arthropods with soft cuticles, such as springtails, aphids and spiders. They also feed on the cocoons and eggs of spiders and insects, and occasionally take pollen. They can also hover to catch flying insects.

Breeding:

Firecrests start breeding in April-May. The nest is constructed by the female alone, although the male will accompany the female while she builds the nest over a period of a few days to three weeks. The nest is a closed cup built in three layers with a small entrance hole near its top. The nest's outer layer is made from moss, small twigs, cobwebs and lichen, the spider webs also being used to attach the nest to the thin branches that support it. The middle layer is moss, and this is lined with feathers and hair. The female lays 7-12 pink eggs with very indistinct reddish markings at the broad end. The female incubates the eggs alone for 14-17 days and broods the chicks, which fledge 8-10 days later. Both parents feed the chicks and fledged young.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

The global population is estimated at 3.300.000-6.700.000 individuals. This species has a very large breeding range and the population trend is believed to be stable, so it is not threatened.