Bird name:

Cassin's Kingbird

Tyrannus vociferans

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

Code 4

CAKI

Code 6

TYRVOC

ITIS

178288

Breeding Location:

Forest edge, Grassland with scattered trees, Mountains

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Fairly common

Egg Color:

Creamy white with brown marks at large end

Number of Eggs:

3 - 5

Incubation Days:

18 - 19

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Twigs, weed stems, rootlets, leaves, feathers, and hair.

Migration:

Migratory

RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS

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.

Breeding and 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.

Foraging and 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.

Readily Eats

Meal Worms

Vocalization

Cassin's Kingbird: Call is a loud "chi-beer" or rapid "chi-beer, ch-beer-beer-beer-r-r."

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.

Percevia^® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The Percevia field guides, database and search protocol patent pending.

The best bird guide and bird watching search engine to identify birds!

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.

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