Cassin's Kingbird

Tyrannus vociferansOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

Codes: Common Name: CAKI Scientific Name: TYRVOC ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178288

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Overview

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.

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.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body

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.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

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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

● 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

Perching-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America