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Cassin's Kingbird

Tyrannus vociferansOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
Cassin's Kingbird Head Illustration_2

Head

  • Bill Shape: All-purpose
  • Eye Color: Dark brown.
  • Head Pattern: Plain
  • Crown Color: Dark Gray
  • Forehead Color: Dark Gray
  • Nape Color: Dark Gray
  • Throat Color: White
  • Cere color: No Data
Cassin's Kingbird Body Illustration_2

Body

  • Length Range: 20-23 cm (8-9 in)
  • Weight: 45 g (1.6 oz)
  • Size: Size 2. Small (5 - 9 in)
  • Color: White, Gray, Yellow, Olive
  • Underparts: Yellow with white coverts and dark gray breast.
  • Upperparts: Olive-gray
  • Back Pattern: Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Buoyant fluttering flight with shallow wing beats.
  • Wingspan Range: 38-42 cm (15-16.5 in)
  • Wing Shape: Rounded-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Fan-shaped Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: Dark gray-brown with buff tip.
  • Under Tail: Dark gray-brown with buff tip.
  • Leg Color: Black
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Family Flycatcher (Tyrannidae)_blue
Species Tyrannus vociferans
Length8 - 9 Inches
Wingspan15.75 Inches

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.
Cassin's Kingbird Body Illustration_2
● 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