Six Golden-crowned Kinglets bounced from shrub to shrub then landed on the ground. In the autumn wind, one of the birds was caught under a tumbling leaf, then popped out from under and continued gleaning insects from the grass.
The Golden-crowned Kinglet is about as big as your thumb. It nests in Canada in the pine forests where it lays 8 to 9 eggs. Kinglets feed on spiders and insects. Their tiny bills are able to pick insect eggs out from under the bark of trees even in cold weather.
In winter, Kinglets may migrate all the way to Guatamala. At times, when the Canadian winter proves to be milder, the Golden-crowned Kinglet may stay there and not migrate at all. Kinglets are some of the smallest creatures on earth, but they still have the ability to maintain body heat in severe cold. Kinglets are very difficult to find. The photo above shows one as it was gleaning the grass in Lincoln Park in Jersey City, NJ on October 14, 2007 on its migration south. A cold winter was being indicated by the birds.
