Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Another favorite winter visitor is the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. These are tiny birds, not much bigger than a hummingbird, and they seem to be constantly in motion. They pursue little insects along the limbs of trees around my yard from dawn until dusk. Occasionally, they visit feeders, especially for suet but sometimes for seeds as well.

They are very entertaining to watch, but their hyperactivity makes it problematic to get a good picture of them. I've tried several times this winter, but mostly they just show up as a blur.

Today while I was outside taking pictures of some flowers, I happened to notice a kinglet in a nearby crape myrtle tree. As I watched, he perched on a limb and seemed inclined to stay there for a moment. I trained my camera on him and snapped.

Of course, I had the macro lens that I use for flowers, so the lens really wasn't appropriate for photographing birds, but I tried anyway.

That prominent white eye-ring makes his eye look enormous in relation to his head. That and his white wing-bars and his tiny size tell us what the bird is. Other than those marks, his coloring is pretty drab except for that ruby spot on his head that, frankly, one rarely ever sees. It is raised when the bird is alarmed and is used in courtship displays. Nevertheless, the appearance and the behavior of the bird make it unmistakable. Just one more good reason to go out in your yard and look for birds on a winter afternoon. If you see a tiny grayish bird constantly flitting around the leaves of your trees and shrubs, it is probably a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.