The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a tiny bird–one of the smallest in North America–positively overflowing with energy. These diminutive birds are always on the move, nervously darting and hopping through the trees in search of food. Their quick movement can make it difficult to spot their eponymous ruby crowns, which are normally folded down, but when the bird is agitated by a competitor or predator, the sight of a golf ball-sized bird with a bright red mohawk is truly unforgettable. The kinglet has good reason to be constantly on the move: its hyperactive metabolism requires it to eat almost constantly, even when building a nest. In fact, a kinglet deprived of food may lose a third of its body weight in only fifteen minutes! Despite their small size, kinglets are prolific egg-layers, with each clutch containing as many as a dozen eggs, and each egg weighing a bit less than a half-teaspoon of salt. Ruby-crowned Kinglets, as well as their cousins, Golden-crowned Kinglets, can be found throughout central Texas during the winter months, before returning to coniferous forests in Canada and Alaska to breed.

Compiled by Owen Moorhead. Sources include the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society.

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