I am always thrilled when I get a look at the “crown” of a Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa), one of the smallest birds in our area. I photographed this cute little kinglet last Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Golden-crowned Kinglets are frenetically active, so it can be tough to get a decent shot of one.
Surprisingly, the kinglets overwinter with us. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “The tiny Golden-crowned Kinglet is hardier than it looks, routinely wintering in areas where nighttime temperatures can fall below –40° Fahrenheit (-40 degrees C).”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
A beautiful bird Michael, we in Europe have Regulus regulus (the dutch name is “goudhaantje” (could be translated as : “small gold rooster”)
I just looked up Regulus regulus on Google, Rudi, and was delighted to see that it is very similar in appearance to my Regulus satrapa. I usually try to included the Latin name for a species, because each language often has a different name even for the same species. 🙂
Beautiful crown!
They are so tiny when you seen one still, great job catching his crown! And of course I especially like the first image with those curlicue vines.