Thick-billed Kingbird

Tyrannus crassirostrisOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

Codes: Common Name: TBKI Scientific Name: TYRCRA ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178292

Breeding Location:

Canyons, Lowlands, Streams

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Common to uncommon

Egg Color:

White with brown blotches

Number of Eggs:

3 - 4

Incubation Days:

18 - 20

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Twigs, grass, plant down,

Migration:

Migratory

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.

Breeding and 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.

Foraging and 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.

Readily Eats

Meal Worms

Vocalization

Thick-billed Kingbird: Call is high, loud, whistled "puareet."

Similar Species

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

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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.

Thick-billed Kingbird

● 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.

● 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

Underparts

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

Undertail coverts

Small feathers that cover the areas where the retrices (tail feathers) attach to the rump.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Belly

The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

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