Gray Kingbird
Tyrannus dominicensis
A relatively pale kingbird, medium-gray above and white below with a darker face mask. Primarily a Caribbean species with limited range in U.S.; found around the edge of dense woodland, especially near the coast. Also seen in more suburban areas. Often perches conspicuously on a snag, treetop, or powerline. Feeds on insects. Listen for its high-pitched twittering calls. Compare with Eastern and Loggerhead Kingbirds; Gray Kingbird has lighter gray upperparts, a thicker bill, and lacks white tail tips.
Identification
The adult gray kingbird is an average-sized kingbird. It measures 23 cm (9.1 in) in length and weighs from 37 to 52 g (1.3 to 1.8 oz). The upperparts are gray, with brownish wings and tail, and the underparts are white with a gray 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.<p>The call is a loud rolling trill, pipiri, pipiri, which is the reason behind many of its local onomatopoeiac names, like pestigre or pitirre, in the Spanish-speaking Greater Antilles, or petchary in some of the English-speaking islands.
Taxonomy
The gray kingbird was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the shrikes in the genus Lanius and coined the binomial name Lanius dominicensis. The specific epithet is from the locality Santo Domingo, now Hispaniola. Gmelin based his description on "Le tyran de S. Domingue" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson. The gray kingbird is now one of 13 species placed in the kingbird genus Tyrannus that was introduced in 1799 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède. A molecular genetic study published in 2020 found that the gray kingbird was sister to the giant kingbird (Tyrannus cubensis).<p>Two subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Tyrannus dominicensis
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Tyrannidae
- Genus
- Tyrannus
Range and habitat
It is found in increasing numbers in the state of Florida, and is more often found inland though it had been previously restricted to the coast. It breeds from the extreme southeast of the United States, mainly in Florida, as well as Central America, and through the West Indies south to Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, the Guianas, and Colombia. Northern populations are migratory, wintering on the Caribbean coast of Central America and northern South America. Several vagrant populations are known to exist in the Northeastern United States. It favors tall trees and shrubs, including the edges of savanna and marshes.
- Breeding range
- NA : se USA and West Indies
- Non-breeding range
- Panama to Guyana
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Like other kingbirds, these birds aggressively defend their territory against intruders, including mammals and much larger birds such as crested caracaras, red-tailed hawks and broad-winged hawks by mobbing.<p>Gray kingbirds wait on an exposed perch high in a tree, occasionally sallying out to feed on insects (such as bees, dragonflies, wasps and beetles), their staple diet. They also eat small fruits and berries depending on its availability. Fruits and berries make up one fifth of their daily diet. Spiders and small lizards are occasionally eaten.<p>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.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Yellow-breasted Antpitta
Grallaria flavotincta
Medium-sized antpitta of the subtropical zone in the Andes. Restricted to west slope of Andes in Colombia and Ecuador. Typical antpitta shape: plump with short tail and long legs. Distinctive if seen well: warm rufous-brown above and pale yellow below. Like most antpittas, very difficult to see; occasionally hops along a forest trail, especially in the morning and evening. Seems to be found most often around streams in ravines and gullies. Listen for its three-parted whistled song, with the first note softer and lower.
Rufous-backed Robin
Turdus rufopalliatus
Handsome thrush of tropical woodlands, gardens, and forests in lowlands and lower foothills of West Mexico with isolated populations in Mexico City and Oaxaca City. Feeds on ground, in fruiting trees and bushes and at times in small flocks, often with Great Kiskadees and Social Flycatchers. Like most thrushes, can be rather wary. Note rusty back and breast, blue-gray head, and yellow bill. Some birds in coastal Nayarit ("Grayson’s Thrush") notably paler and duller overall; mainly seen around San Blas, where greatly outnumbered by typical bright birds.
Flying Steamer-Duck
Tachyeres patachonicus
A large, heavily built duck that is fairly common along rocky seacoasts and on lakes near the coast; also local and uncommon on larger lakes farther inland. Despite the name, rarely seen in flight; more often seen thrashing through the water like an old paddle steamer boat, hence the name. Male’s bill is mostly orange, while the female’s bill is mostly greenish. Plumage of both sexes is duller gray or brownish gray compared to Flightless Steamer-Duck; the two species sometimes occur together, but Flightless tends to be warier.
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