Today at Al Borlin Park in Monroe I turned a corner and in the distance was
a group of kinglets. They were moving towards me so I just stopped in the
middle of the trail and watched. It was a mixed flock, chickadees, at least
8 Golden crowned kinglets, and a brown creeper. One of the kinglets would
fly vertically to about 6 feet off the ground, then sort of flutter its
wings and drop back down. It foraged along the ground for about 15 seconds
then hopped up again. And again, over and over. A second kinglet which was
on the opposite side of the trail and slightly behind started doing this
hopping behavior also. I stood still and the birds passed me, the two
kinglets both hopping to eye level right next to me as they passed, then
continued to hop for next 30 feet until they went out of view. It was both
amusing to watch and curious and I tried to figure out if this behavior had
some purpose or was just kinglets goofing off.

Rob Sandelin
Naturalist, Writer, Teacher
Snohomish, WA