Golden-crowned Kinglet
Regulus satrapa · Songbirds
Golden-crowned Kinglet, mid-hop
Snoqualmie, 4 October 2025
A Golden-crowned Kinglet caught mid-hop between fir branches in the Cascades in October. It is a bird of conifer forest across the mountains and the north, and one of the hardiest: they winter as far north as Canada, surviving nights well below freezing by huddling together in the foliage.
Kinglets rarely pause for more than a second or two while foraging, and a still frame of one in the open is as much luck as timing. One of the smallest songbirds in North America, lighter than a chickadee. The crown, hidden at this angle, is yellow on a female and yellow with an orange centre on a male, and only shows properly when the bird raises it.
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Snoqualmie, 4 October 2025
A Golden-crowned Kinglet working a rain-soaked fir branch in the Cascades in October, one of North America's smallest songbirds, barely heavier than a couple of paperclips. It is a bird of the conifer forests of the mountains and the north, and it stays through winters that kill almost everything else its size.
The black-bordered orange crown patch is usually kept low and only flares open during display or agitation, though the yellow edge is visible even folded down here. A bird this size loses heat so fast that on a winter night it can burn through a quarter of its body weight staying alive.
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