Species: Regulus satrapa

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Species

Birds

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Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Articles:

Marine and terrestrial bird indicators for Puget Sound

December 01, 2013

A December 2013 report identifies marine and terrestrial bird species for use as indicators within the Puget Sound Partnership's "Vital Signs" for ecosystem health.

Black Scoter (Melanitta nigra). Photo by Dave Menke, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Regulidae

Genus

Regulus

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100997

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Reyezuelo de Oro - roitelet à couronne dorée

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Perching Birds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Passeriformes - Regulidae - Regulus - Formerly in family Muscicapidae; returned to Regulidae by AOU (1997). See Banks and Browning (1995) for brief comments on generic nomenclature.

Ecology and Life History

Short General Description

A small bird (kinglet).

Migration

true - true - true - Northern breeding populations migrate south for winter.

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

true

Food Comments

Feeds primarily on insects and their eggs (e.g., bark beetles, scale insects, aphids). Also drinks tree sap (Terres 1980) and eats some fruit and seeds (rare according to Galati 1991). Young are fed various insects and other small arthropods and sometimes small snails (Galati 1991). In Maine, winter diet appeared to consist primarily of geometrid caterpillars (Heinrich and Bell 1995, Wilson Bulletin 107:558-561). Forages among branches of trees, gleaning from foliage and bark. Often obtains prey while clinging to or hanging from foliage (Keast and Saunders 1991). Sometimes uses short flight to capture flying insect.

Reproduction Comments

In northern Minnesota, begins nesting in mid-May; second clutch may be initiated in late June-early July (Galati 1991). Clutch size 5-11 (usually 8-9) (Terres 1980). Female incubates, about 14-15 days. Males feeds incubating female and fledglings from first brood. Young tended by both parents (both are required for successful nest), fledge at 18-19 days (may climb out of nest a couple days earlier), become independent about 2 months after egg laying; single pair may raise two broods in a single season (Galati 1991).

Ecology Comments

Territory size in northern Minnesota was 2.1-6.2 acres (mean 4.1 acres) (Galati 1991). Hatching and fledging success were high in Minnesota; the most frequent sources of nesting mortality were predation on nests (e.g., by red squirrel or gray jay), starvation of nestings due to loss of one or both parents, and faulty or infertile eggs (Galati 1991). Population declines occur after exceptionally cold winters. Commonly associates with chickadees, brown creepers, and downy woodpeckers during the nonbreeding period.

Length

Weight

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1999-10-29

Global Status Last Changed

1996-12-03

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDING: southern Alaska to Newfoundland, south to central California, southern Utah, southeastern Arizona, southern New Mexico, southern Manitoba, northern Wisconsin, northern Ohio, New York, in mountains to eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina, northern Maryland, northern New Jersey, and southern Maine; also in highlands through Mexico to western Guatemala; isolated populations in South Dakota, Illinois, and Indiana (Ingold and Galati 1997, AOU 1998). NON-BREEDING: south-coastal Alaska and southern Canada south to northern Baja California, southwestern U.S., Guatemala, central Tamaulipas, Gulf Coast, and Florida (AOU 1998).

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.100997