Cassin's Kingbird

Tyrannus vociferansOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

General

Cassin's Kingbird: Large, scolding flycatcher with dark olive-gray upperparts and dull yellow underparts. Mask is dark gray, throat is white, and breast band is gray. Tail is black with gray or white tip. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Cassin's Kingbird: Breeds in southern California and from Montana south to southern Utah. Spends winters in southern California. Preferred habitats include savannas, rangelands, and pinyon-juniper woodlands.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chi-BEW", "chi-beer", "ch-beer-beer-beer-r-r"

Interesting Facts

The Cassin's Kingbird was named after John Cassin, who was a curator at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.

In early spring pairs begin a peculiar dance, hovering in unison with outstretched wings and high-pitched calls over a favorite perch. This dance occurs several times a day over several days, over separate sites in an area covering two or three acres. The sites chosen for the dance appear to be the same sites used as hunting perches during the spring and summer.

They are often found high on a tree, where they sit more quietly than a Western Kingbird.

A group of kingbirds are collectively known as a "coronation", "court", and "tyranny" of kingbirds.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Cassin's Kingbird

Cassin's Kingbird: Large flycatcher, dark olive-gray upperparts, dull yellow underparts. Mask is dark gray, throat is white and breast is gray. Tail is black with gray or white tip. Black bill, legs and feet. Bouyant fluttering flight with shallow wing beats. Hovers to take insects, berries, fruit.

● Song: "chi-BEW", "chi-beer", "ch-beer-beer-beer-r-r"

● Foraging & Feeding: Cassin's Kingbird: Diet consists mainly of insects such as bees, wasps, caterpillars, and moths, and occasionally fruits such as elderberries. Usually forages on the wing.

● Breeding & nesting: Cassin's Kingbird: Three to five creamy white eggs with brown marks at large end are laid in a bulky nest lined with twigs, grass, or animal hair, and built on a horizontal tree limb. Incubation ranges from 18 to 19 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Cassin's Kingbird: Other kingbirds lack dark breast band. Tropical and Couch's kingbirds have forked tails and darker cheeks. Western Kingbird has white outer tail feathers. Thick-billed Kingbird usually has whiter underparts and darker head. Brown-crested, Ash-throated and Great Crested flycatchers have darker, browner crowns and brown or rust-brown tails.

Flight Pattern

Buoyant fluttering flight with shallow wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Cassin's Kingbird: Breeds in southern California and from Montana south to southern Utah. Spends winters in southern California. Preferred habitats include savannas, rangelands, and pinyon-juniper woodlands.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationFairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight1.6 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America