Mystery Bird: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula

Heh. Can't get enough of this guy. I like how our favorite characteristic field mark is well-displayed.

The genus name has a scientific -- but non-ornithological -- association with the Arabic Qalb[u] Al-´asad - "heart of the lion". The specific epithet calls to my mind, at least, an association with one of the (ahem) great names of Scottish heraldry.

hmmm, John, sounds to me like Leo's brightest star but I'm not sure if, of the two possibilities, you also refer to the lordship of Lorne and of Somerled who was killed fighting the King of the Scots around 1160 or some Persian governor; warrior gules or generous or?

That's an extremely worn and scruffy tennis ball. I've no idea if it ever hit a bird, but it's certainly been hit a lot.

I love, David, how no matter how silly and lowbrow I go with my attempt to play the obscure-references-to-scientific-names game, you always find some much more obscure (and much more interesting) possible interpretation.

The reality, though, is that I'm not that clever. In this case, the big hint is my choice of emphasis.

LOL John, then I assume you reference the seat at Perthshire and therefore, funnily enough, both the warrior gules (red) and the generous or (gold) would in fact be appropriate- the former being the commmon name of the bird you see, and the latter the primary heraldic color of your own family's Coat of Arms...!

In which case, as this is in Texas, either the subspecies named after Joseph Grinnell or the nominate first day of the month...

I first thought this was a goldfinch but I don't see the black and white of the wings and tail.

Some help here David or John- I get that the genus must be Regulus (Qalb Al Asad and from the constellation Leo) but all the Scottish ancestry and heraldry has me confused!

David suggested two possibilities so this must either be a Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) or a Gold-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa) but from the back they both appear very similar.

Well now that I'm home, I think John got this straight up...

Kim, I think you make a good point- how to tell the difference between the two kinglets from behind... in this case I would expect the olive color of the back, the white wingbars, and the yellow edging on the primaries to be present in both species, but the Golden-crowned has an obvious gray nape, enough of which should have shown here on this shot, and I think we might have expected just a hint of the white supercilium (eyebrow) on that left side... in addition, the underparts, being more buffy-olive as opposed to grayish-white, also tend to Ruby-crowned

And yes, Regulus is both the genus and also the brightest "star" (actually two pairs of stars) in the constellation Leo... the Scottish heraldic stuff I blame entirely on Mr. Callender, traditionally a Scottish barony in Perthshire, the Callender family's coat of arms is colored sable (black) and or (gold), but I think John was being somewhat homophonic (please note the spelling on that!) likening Callender to the specific epithet for the Ruby-crowned, calendula (which name is argued to be based upon the Calends, the first day of the Roman month)...

my reference to a Persian governor hearkened to "satrap", after which the other kinglet satrapa is named...

any other adumbration or obfuscation I lay at John's door- I admit nothing and deny everything

I have to admit that my first thought was that this bird was too colorful for a Ruby-crowned. I think of them as fairly evenly olive. However, after reading everyone's comments, I went back and checked the two again. According to Sibley's, it looks like there may be another mark for distinguishing the two species. In Golden-crowned, it appears that the primary coverts (the little triangle at the front of the wings, just below the lower wing bar) are dark, while in Ruby-crowned, they're edged with yellow. The net effect of this is the the Golden-crowned has two dark patches on the wing, at about the same level, but separated by pale edges on the outer secondaries. The Ruby-crowned has the one dark patch, and that's it.

Now for the caveats -- first, I can only find this in Sibley's, and some hints in some old photos I have. I definitely want to see some more sources before I would consider this trustworthy. Second, feather edgings tend to wear off (of course). I have some photos of Ruby's in June that appear to show dark primary coverts, so if this mark works, it should only be used in fairly fresh plumage.

Paul, I thought I noticed a little difference but couldn't be as exact as you- let me spend some time this evening (when I can actually access photos) trying to find some exemplars that might help- as for the coloring, the lack of contrast between upper and lower seemed to indicate Ruby, not the discrete color of each "half"...

hmmm...

Ruby-crowned Kinglet profile

Golden-crowned Kinglet profile

Paul, I think what I'm seeing is that both species have that "black triangle" but in the Golden-crowned, those coverts are stacked tighter giving the impression of a more defined shape...

Ruby-crowned Kinglet profile 2

Golden-crowned Kinglet profile 2

Paul, to confirm my suspicion, I think I see a definite relative shortness in the primary wing coverts in the Golden-crowned versus the Ruby-crowned which would give that impression of neater stacking... take a comparative look at these great photo collections for each species from the McGill Bird Observatory, especially "after second year" and "second year" males:

Ruby-crowned Kinglet photo library

Golden-crowned Kinglet photo library

after all is said and done, I see a Ruby-crowned above

Couple of notes:

First, I should have been a bit clearer in my earlier post. Stating that I had considered the bird to be a Golden-crowned was meant to imply that you guys had changed my mind. Which you did.

Second -- thanks for the links, David. Looking at those libraries convinced me that Sibley's must have been looking at birds at two different points in the year. I suppose that there could be some differences in the width of the edging and therefore the speed at which they wear, but using that would demand an incredible amount of local knowledge, as well as extremely good looks. And let's face it -- outside of photographs like this, getting that sort of a look at a bird without being able to see it's face would be virtually impossible.

omg i love the ruby crowned kinglet!!!!