| The Ruby-crowned Kinglet ranks among the smallest of North American birds. The bird is whitish below and olive above with a narrow white eye ring and two white wing bars. The tuft of red feathers on the crown is usually concealed but is visible when the bird is aroused. The nervous habit of flicking its wings as it hops from limb to limb and its ability to hover like a Hummingbird while gleaning insects help to identify this bird.
The breeding habitat is the coniferous forests of the west from southern California to most of Alaska. On the eastern part of the continent the bird breeds throughout most of Canada and is seldom seen in the eastern United States during the breeding season.
During the winter the Ruby-crowned Kinglet forms loose flocks with Titmice, Nuthatches, Brown Creepers, Golden-crested Kinglets and Warblers and inhabit the deciduous forests of most of the southeastern United States through southern Texas as far south as Guatemala and along the pacific coast from California to Oregon.
During courtship the red crown feathers are flared like flames when two males square off in their territorial disputes. These flash patches are not unlike those of the Red-winged Blackbird which are also hidden but flare out during courtship and territorial defenses.
The clutch consists of 6 to 9 cream-colored eggs, lightly speckled with brown. The are laid in a large mass of lichens, moss and soft plant materials hung from a limb. The nest is deep enough to conceal an incubating bird and is lined with a small cup of feathers. The eggs are incubated for about 12 days by the female and leave the nest about 12 days after hatching.
The diet consists of insects, spiders, tree sap, berries and occasionally seeds.
Length 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 inches.
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