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Historic Status

Massachusetts has long known the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, or the Ruby-crowned Wren as it was formerly called, as a definite migrant, the rarest of winter lingerers, and a breeder of more northern lands. “They can but rarely be detected here in winter,” wrote Henry Davis Minot, “since they commonly spend that season in the indefinite ‘South.’” (Minot 1877) Their nesting habitats remained mysterious well into the nineteenth century, as Minot observed. “It is astonishing,” he wrote, “under existing circumstances that neither nest nor egg of the Ruby-crowned ‘Wrens’ has been discovered, or at least described. It is probable, and on their account it is to be hoped, that they may long continue to rear their young in happiness and peace, undisturbed by naturalists, in the immense forests of the north,” (Minot 1877). On three July occasions between 1915 and 1932, adults with fledglings were found in Savoy, begging the question of whether historical breeding might have been overlooked in deep forest locations (Bagg & Eliot 1937).

Atlas 1 Distribution

Given the limited number of well-documented historical breeding records of this species for the state, it stands to reason that the Commonwealth’s only Confirmed Ruby-crowned Kinglet breeding record in Atlas 1 came from the Berkshire Highlands near Savoy. Another record of Probable breeding near the Vermont border suggested additional breeding in Massachusetts. The Coastal Plains record, a lone singing male, never managed to attract a mate to his low-elevation coastal territory.

Atlas 2 Distribution and Change

One of the most rarely encountered breeding birds in the state, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet stayed steady at 1 breeding Confirmation, but appeared to be showing a slight increase in encounters during the breeding season. The Worcester Plateau, the Vermont Piedmont, and the Berkshire Highlands all showed some small new presence of potentially breeding kinglets.

Atlas 1 Map

Atlas 2 Map

Atlas Change Map