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We here at 10,000 Birds have long been enamored with what could conceivably be the cutest pair of birds in all of North America – the kinglets.  Whether you prefer the brilliant canary on the heads of Golden-crowned Kinglets or the tiny red stripe that Ruby-crowned Kinglets tend to hide beneath their heads of gray you have to acknowledge [...]

Try to get a good photo of a golden-crowned kinglet. Go ahead. Kinglets, both ruby and golden-crowned, generally present themselves as thumb-sized silhouettes, high in the treetops above you. You get a vague impression of something grayish against the sky; you hear some faint tinkling calls and perhaps the beady three-part see-see-see whistle of the [...]

Gold is one of the most precious metals on earth.  Wars have been fought for it, empires have fallen for it, and entire populations have moved for it.  That humanity has devoted so much time and energy and so many lives over an inert, inedible, malleable, metallic substance will surely, someday, be seen as the [...]

Both of the kinglet species of North America are known as fast-moving, frenetic, and friendly little creatures, that is, if one doesn’t mind risking charges of anthropomorphism by using an adjective like “friendly.”  Me, I’m more than glad to call kinglets friendly, mostly because every time I hear their thin call notes I get a [...]

This fall was surprisingly great in Queens in terms of the fall foliage.  Brilliant yellows competed with rich reds for the eye’s attention and when a migrating bird paused in front of such colors, well, one could barely help but to gasp with wonder on occasion.  And though the species that are featured below are [...]

On a recent walk through Central Park with Daisy we were distracted, charmed, and entertained by a Golden-crowned Kinglet Regulus satrapa that was exploring each and every part of a fence for bugs, and occasionally hitting the jackpot when it found an old spider web with long-dead insects in it.  Though both North American species [...]

In many temperate zones, birds of the genus Regulus are among the first to arrive in spring and the last to pass through come fall. In North America, Ruby-crowned (Regulus calendula) and Golden-crowned (Regulus satrapa) Kinglets essentially herald both spring and winter. These “petty kings” are frenetic feeders that hop manically, often in mixed flocks, [...]

Yesterday I took a long walk across several parks in Queens looking for birds.  And while many species crossed my path, none were as endearing nor as energetic as the numerous Ruby-crowned Kinglets (Regulus calendula) that seemed to be everywhere.  Not only were they everywhere but they were fearless as well!  Several times one would [...]