Gallery: A Kinglet’s “Golden Fire” in Winter

From the Winter 2017 issue of Living Bird magazine. Subscribe now.

Birding in Saskatoon in the winter can be a brutal undertaking, especially when temperatures plummet as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius (which is exactly the same as minus 40 Fahrenheit, a magically bitter cold point where the two temperature scales intersect). Yet still we bird watchers endure and even take part in the Christmas Bird Count and Great Backyard Bird Count. For me, birding in the winter is always exciting, as you never know what you might find. During a cold snap it’s always a treat to see the ever-moving Golden-crowned Kinglets. I watched two kinglets foraging for food among the spruce trees in a city park and was very happy to get a photo of this handsome male with its fiery gold crown up. On a freezing day, seeing that orange-yellow glow almost makes you feel warm!