by Carl Strang
Our two species of kinglets are early season migrants. Today’s featured species usually shows up a little later than the golden-crowned kinglet.
Kinglet, Ruby-crowned
Ruby-crowned kinglet
I have seen this little northern-breeding bird in migrations, in northern IL and IN. Usually they travel in flocks. In 1986 they moved north later than golden-crowned kinglets, in mid-late April, mainly, in DuPage County.
26OC86. Single seen in brush at Willowbrook.
18AP87. First of year seen at Dunes State Park, IN. Has louder, harsher voice than golden-crowned. More chatter. Resembles goldfinch with a burr.
24AP87. Pratts Wayne Woods (Prairie Path). Moving from bush to bush. No vocalizations. Also, little or no probing; foraging by sight only.
21AP89. First migrants of year seen in the little park across from the Newberry Library, Chicago.
22AP89. Both kinglets at Willowbrook, using a mix of hover-gleaning and even more pursuit. Also, this is the kinglet with the song, high and thin, that has one section of accelerating notes flowing into a “chee-chee-per-chi-bee” section.
24AP89. Still at Willowbrook.
25AP89. Lots of them at Willowbrook today. First warm early morning of the year.
26AP89. A few present at Willowbrook.
3MY89. Still a few.
21OC89. Present in West DuPage Woods Forest Preserve.
17AP90. Observed at Willowbrook.
22AP90. Winfield Mounds. Has song “tsee-tsee-…(accelerating)…tsee-tsurd-tserber-tsee-tsurd-tserber-tsee.”
15OC90. Ruby-crowned kinglets at Willowbrook.
23SE91. IL Beach State Park. Kinglet in black oak, reaching, lunging, and very short-flight hover gleaning. 3-12″ per move, less than 0.5 second per perch.
12AP99. Willowbrook. Golden-crowned kinglets nearly gone (saw only 1), but ruby-crowneds have arrived.
20AP99. Ruby-crowneds are showing their red crests today (first time since they started arriving), defending little feeding areas along the stream at Willowbrook. Flycatching and flush-pursuit foraging.
21AP99. Today they still are foraging with much aerial pursuit, but are moving together in groups. No crests showing.
7MY99. A second major wave of ruby-crowned kinglets, probably females, at Willowbrook. None seen after this date that spring.
1&11OC99. Migrants at Willowbrook.
12AP00. Migrants at Willowbrook, singing occasionally.
16AP00. Willowbrook. Several ruby‑crowned kinglets on the preserve, some singing. Two observed showed much more flycatching than golden‑crowneds showed this spring, and some hover‑gleaning. Longer pauses on each perch while searching for an insect to pursue.
22AP00. Morton Arboretum. Both kinglets still present.
14OC00. The past week at Willowbrook, and today at Fermilab, ruby-crowneds foraging mainly in prairie areas with scattered shrubs, concentrating on the shrubs but occasionally visiting goldenrods as well. This open area foraging contrasts with their usual spring woodland preference. Golden-crowneds this fall have been sticking to the woodlands.
7AP01. A couple ruby-crowns seen among numerous golden-crowns at Greene Valley Forest Preserve. One of them occasionally sang.
20OC01. A kinglet foraging alone in a tall herbaceous patch (mainly goldenrods that have gone to seed) at McKee Marsh. I have seen several others behaving similarly the past couple of weeks. It flies from stalk to stalk, perching just below the seed/flower heads and looking all around, apparently for insects. Occasionally makes a hover-gleaning move, often against a seed head.
13OC02. An individual giving a quick, 2-noted call similar to chattering of house wren or perhaps yellowthroat.
9OC05. West DuPage Woods. Golden-crowned kinglets foraging in crowns of trees while ruby-crowneds are mainly within 4 feet of the ground in herbs and shrubs beneath, only occasionally and briefly venturing into the lower canopies. Ruby-crowneds have a quick, chattering-quality “checkit” call. Hover-gleaning their most common foraging method today.
5-11NO05. During my southern vacation, I found golden-crowned and ruby-crowned kinglets all the way to the Gulf of Mexico
23OC07. Fullersburg. A ruby-crowned flashed red in a brief squabble with another.
9AP13. Mayslake. A ruby-crowned kinglet was perched in place and chattering much like an irritated house wren.
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