Verdin

Auriparus flaviceps

Yellow face, no bigger than a hummingbird, builds thorny basketball-nests in the desert. Punches above its weight.

Population: ~7.2 million mature individuals (global estimate); population declining — BirdLife DataZone cites ~1.3%/yr (1970–2017), while the North American Breeding Bird Survey (via Wikipedia) cites ~1.9%/yr (1968–2015)
Habitat: Arid desert scrub, thorny thickets, and washes (arroyos) with scattered acacia, mesquite, paloverde, ironwood, and creosote bush in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts; desert/subtropical dry shrubland from sea level to ~2,360 m
Fun fact: The Verdin is the only New World member of the otherwise Old World family Remizidae, and it builds insulated spherical roosting nests year-round that can markedly cut its winter thermoregulation costs.
Range: Southwestern United States (southern California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas) south through most of Mexico; year-round resident, non-migratory; extent of occurrence ~2,950,000 km²
Diet: Primarily insects and spiders (scale insects, aphids, leafhoppers, caterpillars, wasps, beetles), supplemented with fruit/mast (palm, agarita, mesquite, hackberry) and nectar/seed-pod pulp (sometimes visits hummingbird feeders)
Size: 0.1 m
Wingspan: 0.17 m
Lifespan: 5.6 years

More Songbirds