Verdin, Auriparus flaviceps

Verdin, Auriparus flaviceps flaviceps. Photograph taken within a residential community in Alamos, Sonora, February 2019. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

Verdin, Auriparus flaviceps lamprocephalus. Bird photographed in the bush in the greater Los Cabos area of Baja California Sur, December 2019. Photograph courtesy of Dr. Tom Bartol, Carlsbad, California.

The Verdin, Auriparus flaviceps flaviceps and Auriparus flaviceps lamprocephalus, are two of six subspecies of Verdin, all six of which are native to Mexico. They are a member of the Remizidae Family of Tits, which has eleven global members placed in three genera, and is the only global member of the Auriparus Genus. They are known in Mexico as pájaro moscón baloncito.

The Verdin is small in stature. They have brownish-gray or ashy upperparts and pale-gray to white underparts; their wings and tail feathers have paler edges, the lesser wing coverts are rufous to chestnut and form a distinctive shoulder-patch, their lores are dark, and their head has yellow forecrown, chin, and throat, range from dull olivaceous yellow to a bright lemon chrome in males. They have dark gray-brown or slate gray tough, conical, acutely pointed and straight-edged bills, dark brown to black iris, and dark bluish-gray feet and legs. The sexes are similar in appearance with the females being slightly grayer with lighter yellow heads and throats.

The Verdin are non-migratory and found within desert regions within desert scrub or in desert riparian zones, thorn forest, scrub-oak, juniper, and chaparral, normal at the lower elevations but up also up to 2,135 (5,420) feet within the central highlands. They actively forage on insects, spiders, aphids, beetles, wasps and seasonal berries, nectar, palm fruits and seedpods. They are known for their distinct song and for their prolific building of unusual spherical conspicuous complex nests, that they also utilized for roosting throughout the year. They have life spans of up to six years but have an extremely high first year mortality rate that is in excess of 75%.

The Verdin is found within the desert lowlands of Mexico throughout Baja California, within the Pacific lowlands of Sonora to southeast Sinaloa; in the interior south to northeast Jalisco, Guanajuato, and northwest Hidalgo, and, along Gulf of Mexico lowlands south to central Tamaulipas. The flaviceps subspecies is found in central Baja California, southern Sonora, and northern Sinaloa. The lamprocephalus is found in Baja California Sur.

The adult Verdin are unique in appearance and cannot be confused with any other species.

From a conservation perspective the Verdin is currently considered to be of Least Concern, with stable widely distributed populations. Loss of habitat due to commercial or residential development has eliminated them from many areas including extreme northeast Baja California.