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Couch's Kingbird

Tyrannus couchiiOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

Couch's Kingbird Breeding Male Portrait
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General

Couch's Kingbird: Large flycatcher with olive-green upperparts, gray head, dark eye patch, white throat, and bright yellow underparts. Wings and slightly forked tail are dark. Sexes are similar. Difficult to distinguish from Tropical Kingbird.

Range and Habitat

Couch's Kingbird: Resident from southern Texas south to Central America; prefers woodland borders and brushy streamside thickets.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"s'wee-s'wee-s'wee-s'wee-I-chu", "breeeear", "kip".

Interesting Facts

 The Couch's Kingbird is very similar to the more widespread Tropical Kingbird. The two were considered the same species for nearly one hundred years, but they can be separated by voice and very subtle morphological characters.

 The name of this bird commemorates the soldier and naturalist Darius N. Couch.

 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 Couch's 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 couchii
Length8 - 9.5 Inches
Wingspan15.5 Inches

Couch's Kingbird

Couch's Kingbird: Large flycatcher, olive-green upperparts, gray head, dark eye patch, white throat, bright yellow underparts. Wings and slightly forked tail are dark. Black legs and feet. Difficult to distinguish from Tropical Kingbird. Slow fluttering flight on shallow wing beats.

● Song: "s'wee-s'wee-s'wee-s'wee-I-chu", "breeeear", "kip".

● Foraging & Feeding: Couch's Kingbird: Eats flying and crawling insects, berries, and fruits; perches on tall trees to hawk insects.

● Breeding & nesting: Couch's Kingbird: Three to five pink to buff eggs with brown and lavender blotches are laid in a nest made of leaves, twigs, moss, weeds, and bark strips, lined with finer materials, and built 8 to 25 feet above the ground on a tree limb. Incubation ranges from 14 to 16 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Couch's Kingbird: Tropical Kingbird is identical in appearance but has distinctive twittering call. Western and Cassin's kingbirds have smaller, thinner bills, paler gray ear patches, and different voices.

Flight Pattern

Slow fluttering flight on shallow wing beats.
Couch's Kingbird Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Couch's Kingbird: Resident from southern Texas south to Central America; prefers woodland borders and brushy streamside thickets.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationFairly common
MigrationNorthern birds migrate
Weight1.6 Ounces