Verdin

Verdin
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Remizidae
Genus:	Auriparus S.F. Baird, 1864
Species:	A. flaviceps
Binomial name
Auriparus flaviceps (Sundevall, 1850)

The verdin (Auriparus flaviceps) is a species of penduline tit. It is the only species in the genus Auriparus and the only species in the family to be found in the New World.

The verdin is a very small bird. At 4.5 in (11 cm) in length, it rivals the American bushtit as one of the smallest passerines in North America. It is gray overall, and adults have a bright yellow head and rufous "shoulder patch" (the lesser coverts). Unlike the tits, it has a sharply pointed bill.

Verdins are insectivorous, continuously foraging among the desert trees and scrubs. They are usually solitary except when they pair up to construct their conspicuous nests. Verdins occasionally try to obtain tidbits of dried sugar water from hummingbird feeders.

Verdins are permanent residents of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, ranging from southeastern California to Texas, throughout Baja California and into central Mexico, north of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.

References

1. BirdLife International (2012). "Auriparus flaviceps". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.

• "Auriparus flaviceps". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 9 February 2006.

External links

• Verdin profile at State of Utah, Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife Resources
• Verdin videos, photos, and sounds at the Internet Bird Collection
• Verdin photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
• Audio recordings of Auriparus flaviceps on Xeno-canto.
• Interactive range map of Auriparus flaviceps at IUCN Red List maps