Hail to the King!

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Captures of Ruby-crowned Kinglets are picking up at the banding station. They’re one of the smallest birds we band. Weighing in at around 7 grams, almost 3 kinglets could be mailed for a single first class stamp. This bird packs a big attitude and an even bigger song into a tiny body. Kinglets are often one of the first migrants to arrive in the spring and the male’s territorial song rings through the awakening forest. When you first see a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, its generally olive-drab feathering makes its name seem like a misnomer. If a predator or another male kinglet enters a kinglet’s breeding territory however, his concealed scarlet crown flashes out as a warning. Hail to the king!

~Laurel