BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Corthylio calendula
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
| Scientific Name: | Corthylio calendula (Linnaeus, 1766) | ||||||||||
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| Scientific Name Synonyms: |
Regulus calendula
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| English Name: | Ruby-crowned Kinglet | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | B-RCKI | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Mar 2015) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | Y | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Clutch size 5-11 (usually 7-8). Incubation about 12 days, by female (Terres 1980). Altricial, downy nestlings tended by both parents. Young first fly at about 12 days. | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | Population declines occur after exceptionally cold winters. Seen in scattered groups in association with golden-crownd kinglets, nuthatches, chickadees, etc. | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / Y / Y / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | Migrates to lower latitudes or elevations for winter. | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Nests in coniferous forests and woodlands. In migration and winter it also inhabits deciduous woodlands, shrubs and thickets and may be found in old fields, gardens, yards and parks. BREEDING: Nests in coniferous trees (usually spruce), 1-30 m above ground. Nest usually hangs from stem or twig fork, occasionally it saddles a branch. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Invertivore: Adult, Immature
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Primarily insects and other small invertebrates (e.g., wasps, ants, beetles, moths, spiders and pseudoscorpions). Eats some berries and seeds; drinks sap. Forages at branch tips in trees and often in shrubs; may hover while foraging; captures aerial prey and plucks insects from coniferous or deciduous foliage (Keast and Saunders 1991). | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 11/ / 7 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | BREEDING: Labrador east through Quebec, northern Manitoba, and northwestern Canada to Alaska, south to northern New England, northern Great Lakes region, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, New Mexico, Arizona, southern California. NON-BREEDING: Pacific states, British Columbia, and southern U.S. south through Mexico to Guatemala, also western Cuba and Bahamas. | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Apr 07, 1994 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1997. Forty-first supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 114(3):542-552. |
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Banks, R. C., and M. R. Browning. 1995. Comments on the status of revived old names for some North American birds. Auk 112:633-648. |
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G.W. Kaiser, M.C.E. McNall and G.E.J. Smith 1997. The Birds of British Columbia, Vol. 3, Passerines: Flycatchers through Vireos. UBC Press in cooperation with Environ. Can., Can. Wildl. Serv. and B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. 700pp. |
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Godfrey, W.E. 1966. The birds of Canada. National Museums of Canada. Ottawa. 428 pp. |
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Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
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Keast, A., and S. Saunders. 1991. Ecomorphology of the North American ruby-crowned (REGULUS CALENDULA) and golden-crowned (R. SATRAPA) kinglets. Auk 108:880-888. |
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Oberholser, H.C. 1974. The bird life of Texas. 2 vols. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. |
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Pough, R.H. 1949. Audubon land bird guide, small land birds of eastern and central North America from southern Texas to central Greenland. Doubleday and Company, Incorporated, Garden City, N.Y. |
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Ryser, F.A. 1985. Birds of the Great Basin a natural history. University of Nevada Press, Reno, NV. |
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Sibley, C.G., and B.L. Monroe, Jr. 1990. Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT. xxiv + 1111 pp. |
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Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1994. Species Summary: Corthylio calendula. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 10, 2026).