Golden-crowned kinglet
Regulus satrapa
Bird
One of the smallest songbirds in North America, weighing about as much as two sheets of paper, and yet it winters in spruce-fir forest at temperatures that would kill most birds its size. It works the outer conifer foliage almost constantly, hovering and hanging upside down to pick tiny insects and their eggs from the needles, and it flashes a yellow-and-black crown stripe that the male can flare into orange.
Plan for this species
Location-fit plant set for Chicago, IL: host and specialist plants first, then nectar, fruit, seed, foliage, and shelter plants that still fit the current and mid-century climate read.
0 essential relationships / 3 supporting plants
Host/specialist links: 0
Forage/pollination links: 3
Shelter links: 0
Relationship roles: 1
Eastern hemlock
Supporting / Foliage plants
Gleans tiny insects from the dense hemlock foliage year-round, and the evergreen canopy is part of how so small a bird survives a northern winter.
Norway spruce
Supporting / Foliage plants
Works the outer spruce foliage almost continuously for tiny insects and eggs, and spruce is the classic breeding cover for this species across its range.
Fraser fir
Supporting / Foliage plants
Gleans tiny insects and their eggs from the outer fir foliage, hovering and hanging upside down to reach the undersides. The southern Appalachian spruce-fir is its breeding habitat at the far south of the range.
Plants in the catalog
Foliage plants · 3
Gleans tiny insects from the dense hemlock foliage year-round, and the evergreen canopy is part of how so small a bird survives a northern winter.
Gleans tiny insects and their eggs from the outer fir foliage, hovering and hanging upside down to reach the undersides. The southern Appalachian spruce-fir is its breeding habitat at the far south of the range.
Works the outer spruce foliage almost continuously for tiny insects and eggs, and spruce is the classic breeding cover for this species across its range.
Range
Breeds in spruce and fir forest across Canada and Alaska and south through the Rockies, the Pacific ranges, the Great Lakes, and the Appalachians. In winter it spreads across most of the United States, which is when many people meet it in mixed flocks well outside the conifer belt.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
Use this citation for the Plotwright wildlife record. Use the source cards below to explore the references that informed its taxonomy, range, conservation, host plants, foraging, and habitat.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Golden-crowned kinglet (Regulus satrapa). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/golden-crowned-kinglet
Sources used for this record
This record is compiled from the sources below.
Cornell Lab All About Birds: Golden-crowned Kinglet
Species account for the spruce-fir breeding habitat, the constant foliage gleaning for tiny insects and eggs, the crown display, and the winter cold tolerance.
GBIF: Regulus satrapa
GBIF backbone key 2484591 is an exact accepted match for Regulus satrapa in family Regulidae.
iNaturalist: Regulus satrapa
iNaturalist taxon 117100 is the active species record with community observation range data.
Wikipedia: Golden-crowned kinglet
Corroborating reference for the size, the conifer-foliage diet, and the crown pattern that separates the sexes.