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Thick-billed Kingbird

Tyrannus crassirostrisOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

Thick-billed Kingbird Portrait
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General

Thick-billed Kingbird: Large flycatcher with gray-brown upperparts, darker head, and seldom seen yellow crown patch. Throat and breast are gray-washed white, and belly and undertail coverts are pale yellow. Bill is large and black. Tail is gray-brown and slightly forked, edged with cinnamon-brown. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has browner upperparts and brighter yellow underparts.

Range and Habitat

Thick-billed Kingbird: Native of Mexico; occurs in a few locations in Arizona and southern California. Breeds along permanent streams in lowlands and canyons, especially where large sycamores and cottonwoods grow.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"puareet"

Interesting Facts

 The Thick-billed Kingbird is notably bold and aggressive, often attacking raptors straying near its territories.

 A rare bird that was first discovered in the United States in 1958, the range of this Mexican species has expanded northward since the middle of the 20th century.

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



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Thick-billed Kingbird
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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.
Family Flycatcher (Tyrannidae)_blue
Species Tyrannus crassirostris
Length8.5 - 10.5 Inches
Wingspan15.5 Inches

Thick-billed Kingbird

Thick-billed Kingbird: Large flycatcher with gray-brown upperparts, darker head, and seldom seen yellow crown patch. Throat and breast are gray-washed white, and belly and undertail coverts are pale yellow. Bill is large and black. Tail is gray-brown and slightly forked, edged with cinnamon-brown.

● Song: "puareet"

● Foraging & Feeding: Thick-billed Kingbird: Feeds on relatively large insects, including beetles, cicadas, and grasshoppers. Spots prey from perch and then hawks it in mid-air; often calls upon returning to a perch after successful foray.

● Breeding & nesting: Thick-billed Kingbird: Three to four white eggs with brown blotches are laid in a large, loose cup of twigs, grass, and plant down built on a horizontal tree branch 50 to 60 feet above the ground; nest has a ragged look, with eggs sometimes visible from below. Incubation ranges from 18 to 20 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Thick-billed Kingbird: Tropical and other kingbirds have paler heads and smaller bills.

Flight Pattern

Buoyant fluttering flight with shallow wing beats., Hovers, dips for prey.
Thick-billed Kingbird Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Thick-billed Kingbird: Native of Mexico; occurs in a few locations in Arizona and southern California. Breeds along permanent streams in lowlands and canyons, especially where large sycamores and cottonwoods grow.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationCommon to uncommon
MigrationMigratory
Weight2 Ounces