Gray Kingbird
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| Tyrannus dominicensis (Gmelin, 1788) |
The Gray Kingbird, Tyrannus dominicensis, is a passerine bird. It breeds from the extreme southeast of the USA through Central America and the West Indies south to Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago and the Guianas. Northern populations are migratory, wintering on the Caribbean coast of Central America and northern South America.
This tyrant flycatcher is found in tall trees and shrubs, including the edges of savanna and marshes. It makes a flimsy cup nest in a tree. The female incubates the typical clutch of two cream eggs, which are marked with reddish-brown.
The adult Gray Kingbird is 23 cm long and weighs 47g. The upperparts are grey, with brownish wings and tail, and the underparts are white with a grey tinge to the chest. The head has a concealed yellow crown stripe, and a dusky mask through the eyes. The dark bill is heavier than that of the related, slightly smaller, Tropical Kingbird. The sexes are similar, but young birds have rufous edges on the wing coverts, rump and tail.
The call is a loud rolling trill, pipiri pipiri, which is is the reason behind many of it's local names, like pestigre or pitirre, in the Spanish-speaking Greater Antilles, or "petchary" in some of the English-speaking zones.
Gray Kingbirds wait on an exposed perch high in a tree, occasionally sallying out to feed on insects, their staple diet.
These birds aggressively defend their territory against intruders, including mammals and much larger birds such as caracaras or hawks.
It is found in increasing numbers in the state of Florida, and is more often found inland where it had been previous restricted to the coast. The species was first described on the island of Hispaniola, then called Santo Domingo, thus the dominicensis name.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Tyrannus dominicensis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- Birds of Trinidad and Tobago by ffrench, ISBN 0-7136-6759-1
[edit] External links
- Gray Kingbird videos on the Internet Bird Collection
