Contact notes reveal golden-crowned kinglets

Many times I’ve read about call notes and contact notes among birds and how they serve to keep members of a pair together or retain the cohesiveness of an entire flock.

It’s one thing to read about it, but another thing to see it in action.

Recently, I observed two golden-crowned kinglets foraging in a spruce tree on the University of Maine campus in Orono. Each bird was on the opposite side of the tree, and each kept up a steady frequency of call notes. The first one would utter its characteristic “zeet zeet zeet;” after a few seconds, the other would respond in kind.

And so they continued like that, conversing back and forth as they hopped from branch to branch, gleaning dormant insects in the bark. As I watched, I saw the first bird hop to the end of a branch. Its tiny beak opened wide, and I could just barely hear its voice above the rumble of traffic as it again called to its companion before flying across the street to another tree.

It quickly became apparent the second bird hadn’t heard its partner’s call. I saw it repeat the call twice in quick succession. When it didn’t hear a response, the bird abandoned foraging and tried again. Again I saw the little beak opened wide and the pink of its mouth. This time the call took on a note of urgency: “zeet zeet ZEET!” Still not hearing a response, it flew to the spot where it had last heard its companion. It then repeated itself and was finally rewarded with an answer from the other side of the road. It quickly flew to join the other bird.

I love these little feathered dynamos. Unlike their relatives, the ruby-crowned kinglets, golden-crowned kinglets are hardier and able to withstand colder weather. They winter in Maine; in fact, they were one of the most numerous birds counted in the Orono/Old Town Christmas Bird Count.

While our colorful neotropical songbirds migrate south for the winter, this little songbird breeds and stays here year round, as long as the winter isn’t too severe. The little splash of color it provides brightens my day whenever I see it, which has been frequently of late.

These birds are pretty nonchalant about the presence of humans, so I was able to get a great close-up view of one without the aid of binoculars. I happened to hear their contact calls when I went out to my car one morning; they were foraging low in the canopy of some young pine and spruce trees. One bird came close to check me out, the bright reddish-orange crown on its head conspicuous against the dark background of the trees.

I probably wouldn’t have had any of the above observations if I hadn’t first heard those signature contact notes. So the next time you are out, listen for that “zeet zeet zeet,” to give yourself a glimpse into the life of a golden-crowned kinglet.

BDN bird columnist Chris Corio can be reached at bdnsports@bangordailynews.net