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Gray Kingbird

Tyrannus dominicensisOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
Codes: Common Name: GRAK Scientific Name: TYRDOM ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178280
Least Concern
 
Gray Kingbird Breeding Male
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Overview

Gray Kingbird: Large flycatcher with gray upperparts, black mask, inconspicuous red crown patch, and mostly white underparts with pale yellow wash on belly and undertail coverts. Bill is long and black. Wings and notched tail are dark. Fluttering direct flight on shallow wing beats.

Range and Habitat

Gray Kingbird: Breeds in coastal regions of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and northern Gulf coast. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include coastal areas, including mangrove thickets and small groves of palms or oaks.

Topo Map: Perching-like Body


Listen to Call

Voice Text

"trii-ill-ill-it", "peCheer-ry"

Interesting Facts

 The Gray Kingbird is also know as a Pitirre.

 These birds aggressively defend their territory against intruders, including mammals and much larger birds such as caracaras or hawks.

 This phenomenon has propelled the pitirre into a national symbol (a sort of David vs. Goliath figure) that serves as a powerful and widespread nationalist symbol in Puerto Rico as well as a metaphor for the Puerto Rican Independence Movement.

 A group of kingbirds are collectively known as a "coronation", "court", and "tyranny" of kingbirds.


Bird Term Glossary



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Samira Belous

Splitbar
Range Map for Gray Kingbird

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Family Flycatcher (Tyrannidae)_blue
Species Tyrannus dominicensis
Length9 Inches
Wingspan15.25 Inches

Gray Kingbird

Gray Kingbird: Large flycatcher with gray upperparts, black mask, inconspicuous red crown patch, and mostly white underparts with pale yellow wash on belly and undertail coverts. Bill is long and black. Wings and notched tail are dark. Fluttering direct flight on shallow wing beats.

● Song: "trii-ill-ill-it", "peCheer-ry"

● Foraging & Feeding: Gray Kingbird: Catches flying insects low over water surface; sometimes catches food on the ground or in foliage. Sometimes hovers briefly when foraging for insects, fruits, berries, and small lizards.

● Breeding & nesting: Gray Kingbird: Three to five pink to buff eggs with brown, lavender, and gray marks are laid in a flimsy cup nest made of grass, twigs, and roots, and built on a horizontal branch 4 to 50 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 16 to 18 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Gray Kingbird: Eastern Kingbird has a smaller bill, rounded black tail with white terminal band, black head without mask, white underparts with gray wash across breast, and different voice.

Flight Pattern

Buoyant fluttering direct flight with shallow wing beats.
Gray Kingbird Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Gray Kingbird: Breeds in coastal regions of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and northern Gulf coast. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include coastal areas, including mangrove thickets and small groves of palms or oaks.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationCommon locally
MigrationMigratory
Weight1.5 Ounces
Perching-like BodyX
UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
Undertail covertsX
Small feathers that cover the areas where the retrices (tail feathers) attach to the rump.
UpperpartsX
Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.
BellyX
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.
CrownX
The crown is the top part of the birds head.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

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.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX