Last week, I took a deep dive into the natural history and “sciency” side of a tiny bird called the ruby-crowned kinglet. Because of the most serendipitous stroke of coincidence that I enjoyed back in October, I am able to follow up on that column with another on an even smaller bird called the golden-crowned kinglet. And, in keeping with the general theme of last week’s column, I will attempt to continue with my focus on the science of these two birds.

There is no better place to start than the scientific names of these two adorable little birds. Both species belong to the same genus, Regulus. In Latin, regulus means “a prince,” or “a little king.” In English the notion of little, or small is often communicated with the suffix, “-let” so the “little king” becomes the “kinglet.” Also, notice that when I identified the name of the genus I used the captalized “Regulus.” This is because the genus name for any type of organism is always capitalized.

The species names (which are never capitalized) are meant to somehow distinguish members of a common genus from one another, and when the kinglets are examined I think the taxonomists did a pretty good job. The ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula) was assigned the species name “calendula” for more than one reason. The diminutive form of the Greek word “kalandros,” calendula can be seen as an homage to a bird known as the Calandra lark. This is in recognition of the extremely loud song of the ruby-crowned kinglet, which has been compared to the song of a lark.

Then, there is the Latin term “caliendrum,” which means “head-dress” and the Latin word “calere,” which means “to glow.” Taken all together, the ruby-crowned kinglet is the “little prince with the loud song and the glowing head-dress.” The only regret I have from my Thinking Chair success is the fact that I couldn’t get a photo of a male ruby-crowned kinglet with his glowing patch of scarlet feathers atop his head.

The golden-crowned kinglet was assigned the species name satrapa, which is the Latin term for a Persian viceroy, or governor. The Greek word for this same political position is “satrapes,” suggesting that there was no interpretation or creativity in the word. A satrap was a role in government. So how did a little bird from North America end up with a name for a Persian governor? Well, this is where some creativity may have come in.

Satraps were powerful men and powerful men are prone to certain failings. Sometimes they can be cruel and sometimes they can become quite pleased with themselves and compelled to publicly display their wealth and power with ostentatious displays. Thus, the word “satrap” became synonymous with the notions of tyranny and splendor. Furthermore, satraps generally wore crowns which served as visual reminders of their status and this is where I think the naming guys got the idea. What, after all, could be more splendid than a crown of gold?

The golden-crowned kinglet (the little prince with the splendid golden crown) is only 4 inches in length and a fair portion of that measurement is accounted for by tail feathers. There is a splendid patch of yellow feathers on the top of the head and males have a bright patch of orange feathers inside that. Again, I missed out on seeing a male when I was in the Thinking Chair.

Unlike the ruby-crowned kinglet, the smaller golden-crowned kinglet can be found in our area throughout the year. Some individuals may travel up into Canada for the summer, and most will fan out across the entirety of the eastern U.S. during the winter, but there are always some of these tiny birds in our neck of the woods, no matter what time of year it is.

The rest of the natural history of the golden-crowned kinglet is quite similar to that of the ruby-crowned. They both make similar nests in similar places with similar numbers of similar eggs. They both eat diets of spiders and insects and they both prefer conifer forests with spruce trees. The one difference that really stands out (other than appearance) is the songs of the two species. Whereas the ruby-crowned kinglet is loud, the golden-crowned kinglet has a much quieter song consisting of an ascending series of high-pitched notes followed by a descending chatter that has a distinct “chickadee” sound to it.

Unlike chickadees, kinglets do not visit feeders. By now the ruby-crowned kinglets are well on their way to the states of the southeast, but the smaller golden-crowned kinglets are peppered throughout our forests wherever conifers can be found. I’ve actually had fairly good luck in thick stands of hemlocks. You’re going to need binoculars to get a good look at these tiny birds, but if you manage to spot one I’m sure you will agree it was well worth the time.

Bill Danielson has been a professional writer and nature photographer for 20 years. He has worked for the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and Massachusetts State Parks, and currently teaches high school biology and physics. Visit www.speakingofnature.com for more information, or go to Speaking of Nature on Facebook.

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