ruby-crowned kinglet

American  

[roo-bee-kround] / ˈru biˌkraʊnd /

noun

1. an olive-gray, American kinglet, Regulus calendula, the male of which has an erectile, ruby crest.

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Etymology

Origin of ruby-crowned kinglet

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45

Example Sentences

One of those making an appearance could be the ruby-crowned kinglet, who winters in Mexico and the southern U.S. and is just passing through on its way to Canada or Alaska.

From Washington Times • May 12, 2018

In this neighborhood the naturalists found many birds that were new to them, including a tiny woodpecker no bigger than a ruby-crowned kinglet.

From Through the Brazilian Wilderness by Roosevelt, Theodore

It may indeed have been the winter wren, but from my own observation I believe the ruby-crowned kinglet quite capable of such a performance.

From Wake-Robin by Burroughs, John

How does the ruby-crowned kinglet know he has a brilliant bit of color on his crown which he can uncover at will, and that this has great charms for the female?

From The Wit of a Duck and Other Papers by Burroughs, John

Such is the male ruby-crowned kinglet, garbed in gray and green, the two sexes identical, except for the scarlet touch on the crown of the male, which, at courting time, he raises and expands.

From The Log of the Sun A Chronicle of Nature's Year by Beebe, William