Voice of the Wild

This is Illinois Extension’s Voice of the Wild. A new wild voice in just a moment, so find someplace quiet, take a deep breath, and enjoy.

When you chance upon this diminutive bird in a winter woodland, or in a mixed flock on a cold spring morning, you’ll wonder how it can possibly keep its tiny olive colored body warm. But, Somehow, they manage: apparently finding enough to eat by gleaning meals from the high boughs of conifers and other forest trees. Watch for a brief hover as it flits about a rapid inspection of moss and lichen for overwintering insects. And look too for a distinct line through the eye and the yellow shine of its namesake golden crown.
This is the Golden-crowned kinglet. Regulus satrapa, from the family Regulidae. Listen for the golden’ crown’s high, thin call, and for the tense rise and relaxed fall of its song. Here it is again.

Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for our bird sounds. And thank you for tuning in to learn a new wild voice with Illinois Extension.