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Western Kingbird | Tyrannus verticalis
Arkansaskoningstiran | Tirano pálido
The Western Kingbird is the open-country kingbird of western North America and winters along the Pacific side of Mexico and Central America, and in small numbers in Florida. Every autumn some birds drift east; in the Bahamas the species is therefore a rare but regular visitor.
Voice
A sharp, short whit or kip and a squeaky chatter reminiscent of a toy. Often silent on migration and in winter.
Recording: Richard E. Webster — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · shortened to the first 60 s, mono · xeno-canto
Identification
20–24 cm. Head and breast pale grey, throat whitish, with a darker grey mask through the eye. Back grey with an olive tinge, wings dark grey-brown. Belly and undertail bright lemon-yellow. The black, square-ended tail has narrow white outer webs to the outermost feathers, the best feature in flight. A red crown patch is usually concealed. Juveniles are duller, with paler yellow on the belly. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Tropical Kingbird Tyrannus melancholicus has a longer bill, a greener back, yellow extending onto the breast and a brown, notched tail without white edges. Grey Kingbird Tyrannus dominicensis has entirely white underparts and a darker tail without white. Short-tailed young Scissor-tailed Flycatchers Tyrannus forficatus lack the yellow belly and show a forked tail with a white base.
Habitat
Open country with scattered trees, fences and wires: pasture, field edges, airports and the edges of villages. It hunts flying insects from an open perch and also takes prey from the ground.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
Rare but regular autumn visitor to the Bahamas, mainly in October and November, with a few birds wintering. A rare vagrant in Cuba; very rare elsewhere in the region. Breeds in western North America from southern Canada to northern Mexico and winters from western Mexico to Costa Rica and in southern Florida.
How and when to look
The best chances are open areas in the northern Bahamas in late autumn, such as grassland around airfields. The white tail edges in flight separate it from Tropical Kingbird, itself a vagrant in the north of the region.
Conservation status
Not threatened. The species is numerous in its breeding range and spread east over the past century, helped by trees and utility poles in open country providing new perches and nest sites.
Scientific name
Tyrannus verticalis | Say, 1822
Say described the species in 1822 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Tyrannus was introduced in 1799 by De Lacépède. Tyrannus is Latin (from Greek turannos) for 'tyrant, despot', after the aggressive way these birds drive off even raptors. verticalis is Latin for 'of the crown', from vertex 'crown', after the concealed orange-red crown patch. The specimen the first description was based on came from near La Junta, Colorado.