Traditionally called the yellow-headed kinglet. It belongs to the kinglet family; many individuals are found in Eurasian forests. It has a small size and a yellow, even golden stripe in the crown area, which is called the crown.
Description
The yellow-headed kinglet is highly mobile, constantly moving from the branches of one tree to another. Can be in different positions, even head down. It prefers the top of the crown, so to see such a miracle, you need to climb higher.
Forests full of pine needles are good for them. Also found in parks and gardens where there are spruce trees. In winter, they can be seen in the company of tits. Together they roam between bushes and deciduous thickets.
When the nesting period begins, the yellow-headed kinglet becomes the most vigilant and not prone to contact with humans, which cannot be said about the rest of the time. In Luxembourg, this creature is recognized as a national feathered symbol.
Options
This tiny bird is capable of touching everyone who looks at it. The length of its entire body does not exceed 10 centimeters, its wingspan is 17 cm. Learning about such small dimensions, many wonder how much the yellow-headed kinglet weighs. Just from 4 to 8 grams.
Its back is olive green and its underside is grey. On the wings you can see transverse white stripes. The crown is decorated with a yellow fragment. In males it may be orange. Females are characterized by the lemon tone of this element. It rises at those moments when the bird experiences excitement, and a small crest appears. The eyes are framed by short white feathers. The beak is pointed and thin.
Juveniles look almost the same as adults. The only difference is the yellow stripes on their heads that appear with age. The yellow-headed wren has fourteen subspecies. They are distinguished by color.
Amazing singing
An amazing creation of nature - the yellow-headed wren. Its voice is different from many songbirds. It is thanks to him that zoologists often recognize this creature. This is especially true when a person is on the ground and does not see in the thick of the branches what is happening at the top. You can hear a thin squeak. Common call signs are approximately two to three syllables long.
An interesting fact is that older people may not perceive sounds in such a high range at all. Different versions of whistling alternate in a special melodic rhythm. Such a performance ends with a trill, it lasts about 6 seconds in total, and can be repeated five times at once. Sometimes before the song there is a lead-in that sounds like a pair of sounds. The tonality is the same as the other elements.
During the breeding season, males sing regularly. It occupies the time interval from the second half of April to August. At the end of summer, the chicks hatched in the second brood gain the ability to fly. Such melodies can be heard at other times of the year. They are not always related to marital responsibilities. This is a general expression of the bird's excited state.
At home
In the spring, the yellow-headed wren finds a mate. A nest is a habitat that is an essential condition for reproduction. As a rule, it is built on tall trees. Old spruce trees, on which dense branches have managed to grow, are excellent.
A spherical house is built, slightly flattened on the sides, suspended and camouflaged at a distance of about 2 meters from the trunk. The distance to the ground can be 3-15 m. A round hole is created for departure and return inside. The diameter of such a house, as a rule, is 11 centimeters on the outside and 6.5 cm on the inside.
The yellow-headed kinglet does not require much space. The bird's weight allows it to build a fairly light and small nest. Moss, grass, lichens, spruce branches, aspen, fern, and willow are used as building materials. The adhesive agent is the web. For insulation, down, wool, birch bark, and feathers are laid out inside. This house is quite cramped, so the inhabitants have to sit very close.
Raising offspring
Two clutches are laid per year, including from 6 to 12 white eggs. You may notice a creamy or yellow coating. Dimensions usually do not exceed 15x11 mm. The chicks have very little fluff. Just a little gray soft covering on the head.
For a whole week, the female does not fly out of the nest in order to monitor her offspring and ensure their safety. The male supplies her and her children with food. Upon reaching the age of 17 to 22 days, the chicks can go outside on their own, sit on a branch, and then even fly into the air.
When the nesting season ends, the birds form flocks, united with other species, and jointly search for food. On average, a kinglet lives 2 years. The longest-liver turned out to be an individual from Denmark, whose existence lasted 5 years and 5 months.
Exotica in your home
A yellow-headed wren at home is the cherished dream of many wildlife lovers. It requires special care, since in reality such birds are quite gentle and demanding.
It is worth taking care of purchasing a special cage and proper feeding. An ordinary perch for a parrot will not work. It is better to add twigs and pine needles. They put food on them. Cut worms work well. There have been cases when kinglets were caught from wild conditions, put in a cage and food was placed on the bottom, but they simply did not eat it. This sometimes even led to starvation.
When your pet begins to peck at the offered food from the branches, you can switch to using a tray suspended from the wall of the cage, but not earlier. Not only the location, but also the composition of the food itself is of great importance, since when feeding, the owner may encounter the problem of the bird’s pickiness. Simple birdseed is not enough. The diet should contain worms, ant pupae, bloodworms, pine nuts, cottage cheese and hemp.
Taming
The technology used to catch kinglets is interesting. For this purpose, semolina poultry, onions, and hanging nets are used. The bird is very trusting, so it does not offer much resistance. There is no need to tie the wings. The best time for catching is early to mid-autumn.
It is better to house the kinglets not individually, but in pairs or groups. To do this, you need a large cage with branches on which they can sit. The issue of feeding deserves great attention, since these creatures are so tender that they can die from disruption of their diet.
The owner should also know that during molting, previously friendly birds may begin to conflict and show aggression, so at this time it is better for them to live separately. This wonderful creation can turn any home into an exotic castle.
The kinglet is a small and nimble bird of the passerine order (family of kinglets). Its size can be compared to hummingbirds, which are only slightly smaller. Even an ordinary sparrow next to the king seems to be a rather large bird.
Description of the king
These birds are rarely seen alone. They prefer to live in flocks and are very sociable birds. Another characteristic feature of the king is his talent for singing. However, it manifests itself only in males who have reached the age of two.
This is interesting! These songbirds use their voices to attract mates, warn of danger, mark their territory, and communicate.
Males intensively practice singing during the mating season, which lasts from April to August. The rest of the time, the voice serves them only to express emotions. In pine groves you can often hear the singing of kinglets, however, due to their small size, many people cannot determine whose trills they hear. Surprisingly, the highest notes of kinglet vocals are sometimes not heard by older people. It can also be noted that this bird is the national bird of Luxembourg.
Appearance
There are 7 subspecies of the family, which are found in Eurasia and North America. The most common species is the yellow-headed kinglet, which has a special yellowish “cap”. The main difference between these species is their plumage. However, they all have greenish-olive feathers and a grayish belly (females have more faded colors).
The kinglet has a very memorable appearance. The size of the king is very modest. The length barely reaches 10 centimeters, and the weight is 12 grams. His body is spherical, his head is large, and his tail and neck are short. The beak is sharp and thin, like an awl. Small snow-white feathers grow near the eyes, and there are two white stripes on the wings.
The “cap” is outlined with black stripes. In females it is yellow, and in their partners it is orange. In times of danger or alarm, this bright plumage rises and forms a small crest resembling a crown. Perhaps it was thanks to him that the bird got its name. Young kinglets are distinguished by the absence of bright feathers on their heads.
Lifestyle and behavior
Kinglets are active, friendly and very sociable representatives of birds. It is almost impossible to meet them separately, because they prefer to live in packs. Throughout the day, these birds are constantly moving, exploring the surrounding territory, or playing with relatives. They fly from one branch to another, sometimes taking quite intricate poses. They can often be seen hanging upside down. However, it is difficult for humans to notice these birds from the ground, because they hide in the crowns of trees.
Near human habitation (gardens or squares), kinglets can choose the tallest spruce, even if it is located in a rather noisy place. The nest traditionally climbs on large branches and at a considerable height from the ground (about 10 meters). It should be noted that these birds quite easily put up with the presence of humans and quickly get used to the changing environment.
This is interesting! Typically, kinglets prefer the tallest spruce trees for nesting. They rarely settle in pine forests, and it is almost impossible to meet this representative of the passerine family in deciduous forests.
They prefer to lead a rather sedentary lifestyle, and make forced flights only in winter. However, kinglets living in the northern regions are characterized by migration in a southerly direction. Such migrations occur annually. Sometimes they become widespread, and sometimes they occur almost unnoticed. Kinglets usually return to their native places at the end of spring.
In winter, they can form flocks with other members of the passerine family, with whom they make long flights and have a similar lifestyle. However, during nesting, kinglets prefer to be secluded from other birds. Like many small birds, kinglets try to cope with severe frosts together. They choose a calm and fairly protected place where they can snuggle closely together and warm up. It is thanks to this heating method that they manage to survive.
However, in very cold and long winters, many kinglets die. This is due to hunger and severe frosts. But the high fertility of these bird representatives allows them to avoid extinction. Kinglets can live in captivity. However, only experienced bird breeders can keep them, who can provide them with appropriate care, because they are very shy birds.
How long do kinglets live?
Kinglets in the wild live only a few years. However, cases have been recorded when these birds managed to live up to seven years in captivity.
Range, habitats
Kinglets choose coniferous forests for their habitat, and they especially like to nest in spruce forests. There are sedentary and nomadic flocks. They are found mainly in Russia and European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece).
Recently, there has been a tendency to expand coniferous forests (they have better sound insulation, purify the air better and do not shed large amounts of leaves), which contributes to an increase in the population of kinglets. Dense thickets of spruce trees are not suitable for birds, but these representatives of the passerine order are perfectly adapted to life in such conditions. In places where the bird population has grown significantly, kinglets are forced to move to mixed forests. Among them they try to choose those that have a lot of oak trees.
Kinglet diet
Although the wren is a rather playful and sociable bird, it is forced to spend the vast majority of its time searching for food. To search for food, kinglets can join flocks with other small birds and continuously search for food. They move along tree branches, examining every irregularity in the bark, and also descend to the ground in search of small insects.
Kinglets can hover in the air for some time, and then suddenly rush towards prey and grab it with their thin beak. To maintain vitality, this bird needs a sufficient amount of protein. A kinglet can consume up to 6 grams of food per day, which is almost equal to its weight.
This is interesting! A certain difficulty is also presented by the fact that the kinglet’s beak is not capable of breaking solid food. Therefore, he is forced to be content with only small food, which he usually simply swallows.
The basis of its summer diet consists of small insects and larvae, as well as small berries.. In winter, it can feast on spruce seeds. Severe frosts and snowfalls can force kinglets to look for food near human habitation. If a wren remains without food for an hour in winter, it will die of starvation. Even 10-12 minutes of fasting can reduce his weight by a third. It is worth noting that, despite their modest size, these birds are capable of destroying about several million pests per year.
Natural enemies
One of the most famous natural enemies of these birds is the sparrowhawk, whose diet consists almost entirely of small birds. Sometimes the wren may be attacked by owls. The eggs and chicks of the kinglet can be eaten by great spotted woodpeckers or.
Also indirect natural enemies of the kinglet include the Argentine ant, carelessly brought by people to the European coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This insect actively replaces other species of ants, which significantly reduces the amount of food for kinglets and other inhabitants of the upper forest layers, forcing them to spend much more time searching for food.
There are 2 types kinglet birds- yellow-headed and red-headed. And today, we will tell you about the first of them, although the kings are not much different from each other, since it’s all about color. Let's start with the description and origin of the bird.
Description of the king
Yellow-headed Kinglet is a small songbird, distinguished by one of the most modest sizes of only 10-20 cm. Size is not the only feature, color, this is what, in addition to the voice of the king, is remembered the first time. The bird is colored gray-greenish with a bright yellow-golden flat on the head (red-headed birds have the same stripe only bright red), and the wings are painted with black, white and green patterns.
Of course, in appearance wren It looks like a “doughnut”, but in fact the bird is very mobile, constantly flying from branch to branch, or even from tree to tree. By the way, kings not only fans of singing, they actively use this method before breeding, luring the female. Wonderful singing can already be heard by the end of winter, although it does not last all year round, but until the end of summer.
Origin of the name king
There are several versions the appearance of the kinglet:
1) Thanks to its stripe on the head, resembling a crown, the name of the bird appeared among the people
2) One fine day the birds staged a competition: whoever rises the highest is the winner. At first glance, the eagle took pride of place, but then a small bird flew out from under its wing, heading even higher! So the people affectionately called her “the king.”
HABITAT AND THE HAPPY-HEADED KING
What does the kinglet eat?
King's main diet– invertebrates and various larvae. Of course, all kinds of caterpillars, aphids, beetles, grasshoppers, dipterans, mosquitoes and other insects are included in the diet. And if there is nothing to eat, then the seeds of coniferous trees come to the rescue.
Kings They get their food at the top of trees, going down to the ground extremely rarely. Due to the fast metabolism, searching for food becomes the main activity of the day. Because in just 12 minutes of fasting, the bird not only loses 1/3 of its weight, but if it does not feed soon, it can die within an hour!
Where does the kinglet live?
Meet the king possible in Russia, the Caucasus, Siberia, the Far East and almost throughout Europe. The wren nests in coniferous or mixed forests in such a way that it cannot be seen from the ground. But in winter, the birds gather in groups together with tits and move in deciduous forests.
VIDEO: ABOUT THE KING IN THIS VIDEO, WE INVITE YOU TO WATCH AND LISTEN TO HOW THE KING SINGS
In the non-profit online store of the Ecosystem Ecological Center you can purchase following teaching materials on ornithology:
computer(electronic) bird identification guide for central Russia, containing descriptions and images of 212 bird species (bird drawings, silhouettes, nests, eggs and calls), as well as a computer program for identifying birds found in nature,
pocket reference guide "Birds of the middle zone",
"Field guide to birds" with descriptions and images (drawings) of 307 species of birds in central Russia,
colored definition tables"Birds of Passage" and "Wintering Birds", as well as
MP3 disc"Voices of birds of central Russia" (songs, cries, calls, alarm signals of the 343 most common species of central Russia, 4 hours 22 minutes) and
MP3 disc"Voices of birds of Russia, part 1: European part, Ural, Siberia" (B.N. Veprintsev's music library) (singing or mating sounds, calls, signals when disturbed and other sounds that are most important in the field identification of 450 bird species in Russia, duration playing time 7 hours 44 minutes)
The wren is the second largest, or rather the smallest, bird in the world. It is second only to hummingbirds. And if we take into account the fact that the hummingbird lives on the American continent, we can say with confidence that in our hemisphere the hummingbird is the record holder for the smallest size. Because of this primacy, it is sometimes even called the “northern hummingbird.”
Appearance of the king
Kinglets are small birds measuring from 8 to 11 cm and weighing 6-8 g; males and females are the same size.
The beak is small, needle-shaped. The tip of the tail is notched. The general color of the plumage is gray-green, males stand out with their bright caps, while females are paler.
The central feathers of such a cap are longer and capable of puffing up, and are invisible when at rest.
Nutrition
The yellow-headed kinglet feeds on various insects and their larvae, which also serve as food for the chicks. If there is a lack of animal food, it can eat berries and tree seeds. It usually searches for its prey in the upper tier of the forest, carefully examining the thin branches of coniferous trees. Due to its small size and high energy expenditure, the kinglet requires a relatively large amount of food to maintain its metabolism. Throughout the day, he is busy continuously searching for food, the total volume of which amounts to a quarter of the bird’s weight. The wren destroys many pests and is very useful for forestry.
Reproduction
Kinglets hatch chicks twice a year - in May and July. Birds build spherical nests with very thick walls. Outside, it is 9-11 cm in diameter, and inside - 6 cm. The depth of the nest is no more than 4 cm. The kinglet's nests are hidden at the end of a pine or spruce branch. The building materials for birds are twigs and tree moss. In addition, the nest is wrapped in cobwebs of caterpillars, which makes it more durable. The inside is lined with small bird feathers.
The first clutch consists of 8-10 eggs, the second clutch contains 6-9 eggs. The testicles are very small, whitish-gray or pale red, covered with many veins, streaks, and clay-gray dots.
Both parents incubate the eggs and care for the chicks. It is very difficult to feed the young: the chicks eat only tiny larvae and insect testicles. It is very difficult to collect them in the required quantity. The chicks fly out very quickly. The parents leave them immediately to start the next laying.
Singing
The singing of kinglets can be heard even in winter and very early spring, and February - March. But this is usually sung not by local birds, but by northern birds that winter with us. Kinglets nesting in the middle zone appear on nesting sites only from the end of March. Spring migrations and migrations continue until the very beginning of May. When nesting, the yellow-headed wren is closely associated with forests of the southern taiga type, but it still gives a clear preference almost everywhere to spruce forests. During nesting time, it prefers ripe, high-trunked spruce forests. In mixed forests it nests only where there are either individual spruce trees or groups of them. This feature of the nesting behavior of the kinglet is especially striking at the southern border of its range, where old spruce trees are rare. Here, even small areas of spruce forests can become nesting sites for these birds.
Regular singing of kinglets can be heard only after the winter flocks have dispersed and the completion of spring migrations and migrations. From April, singing does not stop until the end of August - until the second broods rise to the wing. Some males, however, sing in September. This is the so-called autumn singing.
Kinglet. Photo
Close-up photo of the kinglet. Photo: Frank Vassen
Kinglet among spruce branches. Photo: Minette Layne
The song of the yellow-headed kinglet has a clear typological structure. This is a naturally formed finished song. It is formed from the usual whistling calls of the king, quickly repeated in various manners and variations, and usually ends with a short trill. The wren actively sings both during the lek, when protecting the nesting site, and during mating, incubation of the clutch and even feeding the chicks. Males often sing when searching for food. The song of the kinglet, like that of many other birds, performs many biological functions. It also serves as a signal of the presence or appearance of a mating male on the site, a signal of calling and encouraging the female. With its help, the wren notifies the female about its condition, events in the external environment, and much more. In dense nesting, individual males can use song to enter into vocal coordinated communication with each other, demonstrating their skill, experience and position. But still, the main function of the song of kinglets is most likely territorial. The kings sing for so long, a lot and almost continuously during the entire nesting time because protecting the nesting site is the most important and responsible matter for them.
