Weighing less than a nickel and not much larger than your thumb, golden-crowned kinglets are the smallest birds to winter in the New England woods. How does a bird this small stay alive during the long and cold winter night?
This month on Outdoor Radio, VCE biologists Kent McFarland and Sara Zahendra look for Golden-crowned Kinglets on a cold winter day and learn how they survive the frigid nights.
Learn more
- Read more about this tiny songbird’s cold defying abilities on Kent McFarland’s blog.
- Check out the Golden-crowned Kinglet on All About Birds field guide.
- Have you seen a kinglet? See a dynamic, live range map of kinglet sightings and add your observations on Vermont eBird, a project of the Vermont Atlas of Life.
Outdoor Radio is a monthly feature produced in collaboration with Vermont Public Radio. The program is made possible by the VPR Journalism Fund and by a grant to VCE from the Vermont Community Foundation. The program is produced and edited by VPR’s Chief Production Engineer, Chris Albertine.
Broadcast on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014 at 7:50 a.m. on VPR
Comments (3)
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I like the image of the kinglets cuddling to make it through the cold winter nights. It would be fun to have a picture of a “cuddle” of kinglets. Thanks guys. Ted
I do too Ted. I wish I had a good image. Here’s a shot that Bernd Heinrich captured when he discovered how they huddled for the night. Check it out at https://vtecostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/kingletphoto_140-e59d4adaeb85bdaa09999cbea6a7e63f6e971b7c-s3-c85.jpg. It is nightfall and so blurry, but it gives you the idea of how they do it.
Remarkable bird. Amazing facts about this tiny creature. Thanks for another great Outdoor Radio show!