Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird
Tyrannus tyrannus
At a Glance
The Eastern Kingbird is the only widespread kingbird in the east. Common and conspicuous in summer, it is often seen perched jauntily on a treetop or fence wire, or sallying out with shallow fluttering wingbeats to catch an insect in mid-air. In winter in South America it takes on a different personality, living in flocks in tropical forest and dining on berries.
All bird guide text and rangemaps adapted from Lives of North American Birds by Kenn Kaufman© 1996, used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Category
Perching Birds, Tyrant Flycatchers
IUCN Status
Least Concern
Habitat
Fields, Meadows, and Grasslands, Forests and Woodlands, Freshwater Wetlands, Shrublands, Savannas, and Thickets, Urban and Suburban Habitats
Region
Alaska and The North, California, Eastern Canada, Florida, Great Lakes, Mid Atlantic, New England, Northwest, Plains, Rocky Mountains, Southeast, Southwest, Texas, Western Canada
Behavior
Direct Flight, Hovering
Population
26.000.000
Range & Identification
Migration & Range Maps
A long-distance migrant, the Eastern Kingbird winters entirely in South America. It migrates in flocks, and unlike many of the migratory songbirds, kingbirds may travel mostly by day.
Description
Sexes similar - Length: 7.5-9.1 in (19-23 cm); wingspan: 13-15 in (33-38 cm); weight: 1.2-1.9 oz (33-55 g). The Eastern Kingbird is a sturdy, medium-sized songbird featuring a dark blackish to slate-gray head and back that contrasts sharply with bright white underparts across the throat, chest, and belly. The black, square-tipped tail has a conspicuous, crisp white terminal band, which is its most distinctive field mark . A small crown patch of red, orange, or yellow feathers is present but almost always concealed. It is broad-shouldered with a large head, an upright posture, and a relatively short, straight bill. Juveniles look similar to adults but have slightly browner, paler upperparts and a narrower white band on the tail.
Size
About the size of a Robin
Color
Black, Gray, White
Wing Shape
Pointed
Tail Shape
Rounded, Square-tipped
Songs and Calls
A sharp dzee or dzeet. Also a series of harsh, rapid calls: kit and kitter.
Call Pattern
Flat, Rising
Call Type
Buzz, Chirp/Chip, Hi, Whistle
Habitat
Wood edges, river groves, farms, shelterbelts, orchards, and roadsides are all familiar habitats to the Eastern Kingbird. In summer, this bird requires open space for hunting and trees for nesting; its habitat ranges from clearings within forest to open grassland with few scattered trees. It's often common around edges of marshes, farmland, and native tallgrass prairie. This bird winters in tropical forest, especially around edges and along rivers.
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Behavior
Eggs
3-4, sometimes 2-5. White to pinkish-white, heavily blotched with brown, lavender, and gray. Incubation is mostly or entirely by female, 16-18 days (perhaps sometimes shorter).
Young
Both parents of the Eastern Kingbird bring food for nestlings. Age of young at first flight is about 16-18 days, and young may be tended by parents for more than a month after fledging.
Feeding Behavior
The Eastern Kingbird forages by watching from a perch and then flying out to catch insects. It may capture food in mid-air, or hover while taking items (insects, berries) from foliage. In cold weather, when few insects are flying, it may feed on the ground.
Diet
Mostly insects, some fruit. The Eastern Kingbird’s diet consists primarily of insects during the summer; included are many beetles, wasps, bees, winged ants, grasshoppers, flies, leafhoppers, and others. Sometimes claimed to be a serious predator on honeybees, but there is little evidence for this. It also eats many berries and wild fruits. While the winter diet of the Eastern Kingbird is not well known, it feeds heavily on berries in tropical forests.
Nesting
In courtship, the Eastern Kingbird male displays with rapid up-and-down flight, zigzags, backwards somersaults, and other aerial acrobatics. The red patch of crown feathers, usually concealed, may be visible during displays. Nest site is usually in deciduous tree or large shrub, 7-30 ft above the ground, sometimes lower or much higher. Sometimes on powerline towers, on dead snags standing in water, on top of fence post, or other odd site. Nest (built by female, perhaps with help from male) is a bulky cup of weed stalks, twigs, grass, lined with fine grass and sometimes animal hair.
Conservation
Conservation Status
Surveys show a gradual decrease in Eastern Kingbird numbers since the 1960s, but the species remains widespread and common.
Climate Threats Facing the Eastern Kingbird
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.
