The Urban Pantheist

Photos by cottonmanifesto. Location: Leverett Park.

Urban species #351: Golden-crowned kinglet
The golden-crowned kinglet is one of those urban species that you aren't likely to find unless you are looking for it. Most people, even if they were enjoying a walk through a wooded city park, surrounded by tiny birds flitting all about them, might not know what the little birds were. In Boston they would most likely be chickadees or titmice; but there's a chance that they might be kinglets. There are half a dozen species of kinglets, all found in the northern hemisphere, and as a group they are the smallest songbirds on earth. They weigh about 5 and a half grams each. Golden-crowned kinglets move in disorganized groups through dense shrubbery and the branches of conifers, picking spiders and mites, and insect eggs and larvae off of the needles, buds and leaves. They prefer a habitat of mixed spruce and other trees, and construct nests concealed in the thick foliage at the top of fir or spruce. They may be drawn to Christmas tree farms for feeding, but the trees are too small for them to nest in. Their range is expanding in many parts of North America, due to the widespread planting of blue spruce and especially Norway spruce.