Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 7.5–9.1 in
19–23 cm - Wingspan
- 13–15 in
33–38 cm - Weight
- 1.2–1.9 oz
33–55 g
Other Names
- Tyran tritri (French)
- Pitirre americano, Tirano viajero (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- The Eastern Kingbird is highly aggressive toward nest predators and larger birds. Hawks and crows are attacked regularly. A kingbird was observed to knock a Blue Jay out of a tree and cause it to hide under bush to escape the attack.
- During the summer the Eastern Kingbird eats mostly flying insects and maintains a breeding territory that it defends vigorously against all other kingbirds. In the winter along the Amazon, however, it has a completely different lifestyle: it travels in flocks and eats fruit.
- Parent Eastern Kingbirds feed their young for about seven weeks. Because of this relatively long period of dependence, a pair generally raises only one brood of young per nesting season.
Habitat
Grassland
- Breeds in open environments with scattered perches, such as fields, orchards, shelterbelts, and forest edges. Uses urban parks and golf courses.
- Winters in river- and lake-edge habitats and canopy of tropical forests.
Food
Insects
Flying insects, fruits especially in winter.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 2–5 eggs
- Egg Description
- Creamy white with heavy dark spots, concentrated around large end.
- Condition at Hatching
- Helpless and with sparse down.
Nest Description
Nest an open cup of twigs, roots, dry weed stems, and strips of bark lined with plant down, fine rootlets, and hair. Nest placed on horizontal limb in tree, in crotch of tree limb, or on top of snag or fence post.
Nest Placement
Tree
Behavior
Flycatching
Captures most prey by aerial hawking from an elevated perch. Also grabs insects off vegetation with its bill.
Conservation
Least Concern
Widespread and common, but populations may be decreasing.
Credits
- Murphy, M. T. 1996. Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus). In The Birds of North America, No. 253 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.