Species Spotlight July 2017

Eastern Kingbird
Tyrannus tyrannus

Eastern Kingbirds have been spotted on the refuge recently, marking the true start to summer! They spend winters in forests of South America, and then move north for the breeding season, but are more abundant on the East side of Washington State and throughout North America, with the exception of northern Canada and the southwestern United States. Eastern Kingbirds are large and stocky flycatchers, with dark grey upperparts and white underneath. They have large heads, a straight, upright posture, a square tipped tail and a relatively short straight bill. They can be separated from other North American flycatchers by the obvious white tail tip.  They are often seen harassing Crows, Red-tailed hawks and Great Blue Herons, or sitting on wires or flying with very shallow, rowing wingbeats over tall grasses looking for bugs to eat.

The Eastern Kingbirds that are around right now are most likely nesting, as these songbirds breed in open areas like yards, fields, pastures, grasslands, or wetlands, and are especially abundant in open places along forest edges or water. During breeding season, the females take about 2 weeks to build the nest, while the male keep watch over the whole process, either to warn the female of danger, or to make sure she doesn’t mate with another male. The nest can be up to 7 inches across and 6 inches deep, built to withstand weather that accompanies an exposed nest site. The outside of the nest is usually small twigs, coarse roots, dry weed stems, strips of bark, and sometimes bits of trash such as cigarette butts, plastic, and twine. On the inside, which is only 2–3 inches across and an inch or two deep, is a softer lining of fine rootlets, willow catkins, cottonwood fluff, cattail down, and horsehair. Eastern Kingbirds are known for their aggression towards each other and other species. They have a crown of yellow, orange, or red feathers on its head, but the crown is usually concealed. When it encounters a potential predator the kingbird may simultaneously raise its bright crown patch, stretch its beak wide open to reveal a red gape, and dive-bomb the intruder.

To find this bird, all you need to do it look for open areas near overgrown fields near forest edges. Scan for a large, dark-backed flycatcher atop a shrub, fencepost, or wire. Wait for it to fly out to catch an insect, and look for an all-white belly and white-tipped tail. You can also often spot them as they sit on fence wires; learning their distinctive call note helps to identify them as well, their call sounds like an electric spark or zap.

Did you know? Since Eastern Kingbirds are insectivores, both adults and nestlings regurgitate pellets of insect exoskeletons, much like Owl pellets, but with bug parts.

Kingbirds sometimes catch small frogs, treating them the same way they deal with large insects: beating them against a perch and swallowing them whole. Eastern Kingbirds apparently rely almost completely on insects and fruit for moisture; they are rarely seen drinking water.

Photo By: Flickr user- Kelly Colgan Azar