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Loggerhead Kingbird Tyrannus caudifasciatus Clérigo,
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Photo: L. Miranda
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Loggerhead Kingbird Tyrannus caudifasciatus Clérigo,
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Photo: L. Miranda
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IDENTIFICATION: Similar to the Gray Kingbird, but with a browner back, a blackish upper head, and a yellow crown stripe (rarely visible). Length: 23-25 cm.; weight: 37 g. VOICE: A loud, bubbly, "pi ti tity", but outside the breeding season, it vocalizes less often than the Gray Kingbird. Audio 6 (M. Oberle). Like the Gray Kingbird, members of a pair will often greet each other just as one member of the pair returns to a perch near the other. HABITAT: Forest clearings and edges; shade coffee plantations. HABITS: Perches in a clump of leaves or epiphytes, or on an exposed branch or wire near a forest clearing. It sallies out to catch insects in mid-air or snatch them from from leaves. It also eats frogs and lizards. It sometimes hovers to eat seeds and berries, which compose a quarter of its diet. Insect prey include crickets, locusts, weevils, other beetles, moths, wasps, bugs (Hemiptera), and caterpillars. It builds a loose cup nest of grass, seedpods, string, and other fibers. The female lays 2-4 eggs in a clutch. STATUS AND CONSERVATION: A common, permanent resident in Puerto Rico. The restoration of forests in the late 20th Century has probably helped this species. RANGE: Breeds in the northern Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, and the Greater Antilles. A regular place to find this species is in forest clearings at Maricao State Forest. TAXONOMY: PASSERIFORMES; TYRANNIDAE; Tyranninae. The subspecies on Puerto Rico (Tyrannus caudifasciatus taylori) has a dark tail tip (light tail tip on other islands). |
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Photo: G. Beaton
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Photo: B. Hallett
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Photo: L. Miranda
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Photo: M. Oberle
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Photo: B. Hallett
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References Bradley, P. and Y. Rey-Millet. 1985. Birds of the Cayman Islands. P.E. Bradley, George Town, Grand Cayman. Brudenell-Bruce, P.G.C. The birds of New Providence and the Bahama Islands. 1975. Collins, London. Cruz, A. 1980. Avian feeding assemblages in Puerto Rico. Carib. J. Sci. 15:21-27. Downer, A. and R. Sutton. Birds of Jamaica. 1990. Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge, UK. Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton. Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR. Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton. Saliva, J.E. 1994. Vieques y su fauna: Vieques wildlife manual. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Boquerón, PR. Smith, P.W., Woolfenden, G.E. and Sprunt IV, A. 2000. The Loggerhead Kingbird in Florida: the evidence revisited. N. Am. Birds 54(3):235-240. Loggerhead Kingbird, Spanish text Next related species in taxonomic order Previous related species in taxonomic order |