Despite its tiny size, the golden-crowned kinglet thrives in the thin air of the higher mountains. They prefer spruce-fir forest from about 10,000 feet up to treeline and I consistently observe them along the western slopes of Pikes Peak. During the cold of winter, some will migrate to lower elevations, possibly showing up in Colorado Springs and along the Front Range.

Kinglets are among the smallest of the songbirds/perching birds, mini birds that only weigh a third of an ounce. They have round bodies with miniscule beaks and stubby tails. White wing bars are also a noticeable feature. Kinglets are active foragers, quickly darting around and hovering or hanging upside down to feed from leaves. They mostly feed on insects (including eggs and larvae) but will also eat spiders, fruits, seeds and sap. The other common local kinglet is the ruby-crowned kinglet. Outside of the breeding season both kinglets may flock together along with chickadees, nuthatches, creepers and warblers.

At first glance, golden-crowned kinglets resemble chickadees with their gray bodies and black head stripes, but look closer for pale wing bars on the kinglet. They may also show greenish and yellowish hues on the body and have a nervous habit of flicking their wings. The best identifying feature is flashes of the yellow crown, however the color is often hidden. The male also has a flare of red inside the yellow color.

The golden-crowned kinglet’s song is a series of accelerating high-pitched notes that descend into chattery chickadee-like calls. Outside of the breeding season they can be located by their thin high-pitched calls that are basically identical to calls of the brown creeper, a species that is found in the same habitats as kinglets. This extreme similarity presents an identification challenge that requires visual confirmation of the species.

While golden-crowned kinglets prefer spruce-fir forests, they can also be found in other conifer forests and riparian woodlands. During winter and migration, they can show up in urban settings and any wooded area. They have appeared in my Woodland Park yard area a few times, but my favorite observation was during a winter hike on the Lovell Gulch Trail. I heard a flock of chickadees and nuthatches overhead when suddenly a golden-crowned kinglet dropped down to the willows along the snow-covered creek. I was quite surprised to see this treetop species hop to the ground and enter a tiny snow cave. I figured it was trying to access the open water flowing beneath the snow, and after a couple minutes it emerged rehydrated and fluttered back up to the treetops. While birds can eat snow, melting it requires the burning of precious cold weather calories, so even a drink of ice-cold creek water is preferable to consuming snow.

Notable reports in November from the Woodland Park Yard Area.

• Downy Woodpecker and Brown Creeper- a few sightings
• Clark’s Nutcracker- a couple sightings
• White-breasted Nuthatch- one or two around most of the time
• Dark-eyed Junco winter subspecies: Slate-colored and Pink-sided- one or two of each around most of the time, Oregon- one on Nov. 3
• Pine Siskin- two on Nov. 4
• Evening Grosbeak- a few on Nov. 25

Joe LaFleur studied wildlife biology and communications at Colorado State University. He is author of the book Mountain Birds of Teller County and creator of “Better Birdwatching,” a DVD series on North American birds. His betterbirdwatching.com website features a Teller County Bird Checklist and Blog. Contact him with questions and feedback at joe@betterbirdwatching.com.