Most years Golden-crowned Kinglets are common in the coniferous forests around Sitka. Despite their small size, they manage to find enough enough to keep warm through the long chilly nights of winter. During the day they often seem to forage in loose flocks with chickadees and Brown Creepers. Assuming you can hear the high pitched call notes they constantly make to stay in touch with each other, they are more often heard than seen. If you can’t hear those notes, you may had a hard time seeing them very much at all, as they are constantly on the move and often high up in the canopy. On a recent visit to Sage Beach, I felt fortunate to be able to able to watch and even grab a couple of pictures of some Golden-crowned Kinglets foraging on the spruces and hemlocks overlooking the shore.
Questions:
- How long do Golden-crowned Kinglets typically live?
- Are local birds resident throughout the year, or do they come and go with the seasons, with different birds being present in the winter compared to the summer?
- What are they finding on the trees?
- How much do they need to eat each day to survive?
