Verdin - Ross Feldner

The Verdin is one of the smallest passerines (perching birds) in North America.

Loud for its size, Verdins have a variety of calls including a “tschep” sound repeated in rapid staccato often while foraging. It also has a “gee-gee-gee-gee” alarm call.

They can be found in southern Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and south to Mexico.

Verdins make their nests in shrubs and thorny thickets. The nest is a spherical mass of twigs and branches that is then lined with grass, feathers, and hair. In addition to breeding nests, Verdins build individual roosting nests whose insulation allows them to survive cold winter nights in the desert. One study documented a Verdin pair had built 11 nests in one season.

Preferring tiny insects, both adults and larvae, they forage continuously among scrub and desert trees. One study showed they ate up to 540 insects, spiders or larvae per day during winter! They forage much like chickadees, flitting among branches of trees, often landing upside down to find insects on the underside of leaves.

While Verdins are still common, it’s estimated that their population has declined 60% in North America between 1968 and 2015. Threats to Verdin populations include habitat loss as a result of urbanization, human structure collisions, and predation.