Tropical Kingbird Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A powerfully built flycatcher with a big head and a heavy, long bill. It has pointed but broad wings, and its medium-length tail shows a shallow notch in the center.

  Relative Size

  Larger than a Western Kingbird, smaller than a Green Jay.

  robin-sized

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 7.1-9.1 in (18-23 cm)
    • Weight: 1.1-1.5 oz (32-43 g)

  © Chris Wood / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  A gray-headed bird with bright yellow underparts and a pale gray-green back. It has a whitish throat and dark gray-brown wings and tail.

• Behavior

  Forages by catching large flying insects on the wing, sallying out from a favored perch (often a telephone line) and returning to it to consume the prey. Also feeds on fruits, particularly during cooler weather. Perches conspicuously and when nesting flies out to confront many sorts of birds that come too close to the nest.
• Habitat

  Found in almost any open or semiopen habitat in most of the range; in the United States, favors parks, towns, and rural areas with scattered trees for nesting and other perches for hunting, often near water.