Verdin Tiny and rather plain, the Verdin seems quite unremarkable at first sight. For a while it was placed, uneasily, in the same family as the chickadees, which it resembles in size and in hyperactive behavior. Scientists now believe that its closest relatives are several species of small, plain birds found in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Verdins seem undaunted by our extremes of weather.
Hardy and adaptable, they are active on the hottest days and the coldest winter mornings. Although they are most common in thick mesquite bosques, they also range out onto open flats where the plant life is sparse, and they readily move into desert cities. Except when they pair up for nesting, Verdins generally go their own way as individuals. Since these birds build nests in which to sleep at night, as well as those for raising young, the nests are often easier to find than the Verdins themselves. Immatures lack both the yellow and chestnut coloration of adults.