GCKI:Presentation

Outline

• Description GCKI compared to RCKI
  • size*
  • color*
  • song
  • behavior
• Spring migration
  • timing
• Fall migration
  • timing
• Winter
  • CBC data
  • my sightings
  • Heinrich on survival
• Nesting
  • Galatis on nesting

Description

• Regulus ("little king") satrapa
• Among NA birds, only some hummingbirds are smaller.
• Neckless, plump, small pointy bill, beady black eyes, no eye-ring.
• Short, narrow, deeply notched tail.
• In all plumages, a greenish gray bird with bold black markings on face.
• Both sexes olive above, whitish (not olive) underparts.
• White-and-yellowish wing pattern with black and white wing bars.
• Adults, yellow and orange crown-patch (in female, yellow only), bordered by black.
• Orange portion of male crown-patch concealed.
• RCKI is slightly larger, uniformly plainer, less distinctly patterned, overall greener than GCKI.
• GCKI: L 3 1/2" - 4", WT 0.21 oz (6 g)
• RCKI: L 4" - 4 1/4", WT 0.23 oz (6.5 g)
• 4 to 6 subspecies. Differences related to white eyebrow length, upperparts color, underparts color, contrast diffs between wing bars and secondary edges, bill shape.

Song

• Rarely sings during migration??? - BNA
• Song is easily missed.
• High-pitched, weak, rising series of thin notes followed by tumbling, chickadee-like, squeaky laughter.
• The laughing-part is more noticeable than beginning part of song.
• Call a very high, thin, usually "see-see-see" or "zee-zee-zee".
• Very high, weak "tip" notes.
• Also, very short trill-like sound similar to Brown Creeper call.
• "see-see-see" call more noticeable than song and best way to locate GCKI.
• RCKI song is lower-pitched, louder, more musical. One of my favorites.
• RCKI call a husky dry "jidit".

Behavior

• Extremely active forager, twice as fast as warblers.
• Prefers conifers year round.
• Migration at Magee:
  • Seems to prefer bushes and small to mid-sized trees with a lot of twigs or very small branches packed close together.
  • Also likes bushes and small trees with vines tangled through them.
  • Inspects dead, shriveled up leaves still attached to tree/bush.
  • Picks at the intersection of twigs.
  • Hops from twig to twig.
  • More frequent hovering at ends of pine branches by tower.
  • Along boardwalk, forages on ground to canopy, mostly 5' to 30', generally higher than RCKI.
• Wing-flicking action while foraging, but less than RCKI.
• RCKI is more prone to hovering and flycatching.
• GCKI does more hanging upside down, chickadee-style, than RCKI.
• GCKI more social than RCKI.
• GCKI often joins mixed-species foraging flocks during migration and in winter.
• GCKI is so-so responder to pishing.