LOOK FOR MORE THAN CROWNS IN BIRD SPECIES

Black-crowned Night Herons

Golden-crowned Kinglet

photos courtesy of Sharon Milligan

This article appeared in the Sun Herald on January 10^th, 1997.

  Deep winter is a rather repetitive birding season, so let's use this time of transition, between winter and spring migration, to discuss a few things that can make a novice birder chuck the bins and field guide at first sign of frustration.

   This week's subject is the “crowned heads” of the bird world. As any beginner soon discovers, there are a number of species with the word "crown" in their names, but very few of them actually have what we envision as a crown. This leads to confusion. It makes the birder doubt an identification, because he or she often cannot see the plumage element for which the bird was named originally.

   You may wish to follow along with a field guide.

   Here on the Mississippi Coast, there are six species with the word "crown" in their names: Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron (these two may be seen year-round but mostly spring through fall), Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Orange-crowned Warbler and White-crowned Sparrow (these four are winter residents, with the last one named on the irregular list).

   Beginning with the night herons, note that adults do have a "beanie" type of plumage that might be considered as a crown; once this plumage is attained, it is kept year-round. Notice also that adults in breeding (or adult alternate) plumage sport attractive plumes which seem to flow from the beanie like ribbons on a little girl's hat. This is a breeding-season-only adornment. Most of the year we are likely to see more immature birds than adults. They are unlike adults in plumage but not in shape, and criteria other than crowns are the best means to identify them, but that's another column.

   Ah, the kinglets. I remember my first experience with the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. It was on a twig just outside the window. I was no more than six feet from it, but I could see nothing that passed for a ruby -- or red -- crown, with which adornment the bird is usually illustrated. Everything else fit perfectly: dull yellowish, white wing bars, tiny size, beady black eyes, etc. I even heard its rapid, nervous chitter, but I hesitated to name it.

   In desperation I went to the text that accompanies the illustration. There it said that the ruby crown of the male is usually concealed and erected only when the bird is excited; females have no ruby crown at all. So I stopped looking for the elusive color and depended on other features or field marks. Once having learned that little bit of intelligence, I doubt that I have misidentified a Ruby-crowned Kinglet since.

   The Golden-crowned Kinglet, on the other hand, has a beanie that is visible all the time. It is orange in the male and yellow in the female. With its other striking field marks, this kinglet is an easy call, even for a beginner. But here in winter, it is much more a mixed-woodland bird than the ubiquitous Ruby-crowned and in most circumstances not as up-front.

   The wintering Orange-crowned Warbler is a bird that throws a gauntlet at the feet of the novice birder and even those who have been at it a while. As with the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, the orange crown is concealed. The so-called crown is not a field mark. In nearly three decades of birding, I have seen the orange crown once, when the bird was hanging upside down from a branch at close range. The best field marks are the lack of field marks. This is a dull yellowish-gray bird; the brightest yellow feathers are the under-tail coverts. It has a hint of an eye line, and it generally stays low in the brush, most often near watery places.

   Last but not least is the White-crowned Sparrow. Adults do have bright white beanies, but the immatures, which always outnumber the adults in fall and winter, have brownish beanies. Both are large and have large, very pink bills.

  

Announcement

Mr. Pete Dunne (Nationally recognized birder, teacher and author) has a new collection of essays called “Bird Droppings” which is something all birders would enjoy having on their bookshelves. His dedication in the book reads: “To Judy Toups, who inspired us all”.