Kinglet (Golden crowned)

A tiny, continuously active bird, the Golden-crowned Kinglet is most frequently found in coniferous woods. Despite being barely larger than a hummingbird, the kinglet winters northward to Canada and Alaska.

Formerly breeding almost exclusively in the remote, boreal spruce-fir forests of Canada, the Kinglet has expanded southward into spruce plantings in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

The Golden-crowned Kinglet usually raises two large broods of young, despite the short nesting season of the northern boreal forest. The female Golden-crowned Kinglet feeds her large brood only on the first day after they leave the nest. She then starts laying the second set of eggs while the male takes care of the first brood. Despite having eight or nine young to feed, the male manages to feed them, himself, and occasionally the incubating female too.

Each of the Golden-crowned Kinglet's nostrils are covered by a single, tiny feather.

photographed in Gravenhurst, ON