General

Eastern Kingbird: Large flycatcher with blue-black back and wings, black tail with white terminal band, and white underparts. Head is black and has inconspicuous red crown feathers visible when bird is displaying. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is similar but browner.

Range and Habitat

Eastern Kingbird: Breeds from British Columbia across interior Canada to Maritime Provinces and south to northern California, central Texas, the Gulf coast, and Florida. Spends winters in the tropics. Inhabits open woodlands, clearings, rural roadsides, farms, orchards, edges of fields, streams, and suburbs.

Breeding and Nesting

Eastern Kingbird: Three to five white to pale pink eggs marked with brown, lavender, and gray are laid in a cup nest made of weeds, twigs, and grass, lined with grass and animal hair, and built far to midway out on a horizontal tree or shrub branch; also nests in cavities and human-made structures. Incubation ranges from 16 to 18 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Eastern Kingbird: Feeds on insects and fruits; often forages by hovering and pouncing on prey on the ground.

Readily Eats

Meal Worms

Vocalization

Eastern Kingbird: Call is a quick, loud, chattering "kit-kit-kitter-kitter"; also a buzzing "dzee-dzee-dzee."

Similar Species

Eastern Kingbird: Gray Kingbird has pale gray upperparts, white underparts, black mask through eyes, and lacks white terminal tail band.