The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is very hard to identify because only males have the “ruby crown” and their patch usually stays hidden. Most of the ones I photographed recently did not have a ruby crown visible. In addition, the ruby color seems more like fluorescent orange. I was able to photograph one bird that had the ruby crown and that helped in the identification process. The key help though, came from some friends on my Google+ Bird Photography group. They immediately identified the bird and I’m thankful for their help.
The Kinglet is a very tiny bird and they are also very fidgety. They are always frantically looking for food in the lower branches of shrubs and trees. When they do come out, they don’t stand sill for very long. They are also hard to photograph because they have a habit of constantly flicking their wings. Metabolic studies on Ruby-crowned Kinglets suggest that these tiny birds use only about 10 calories per day despite all their high activity levels.
This image was taken with my Canon EOS 5DS using my Sigma 150-600mm f-5-6.3 Sports Lens set on 600 mm. The camera was set on Aperture priority mode with the aperture set at f/6.3, shutter speed at 1/160th of a second and the ISO set at 1600. This is a single image processed in Lightroom.
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© 2015 T. Kahler Photography
Yes, why I had trouble identifying it. Nice shot showing the red crest which is invisible normally.
Thanks Rick. I would like to get a better shot next time.