Tropical Kingbird

The name of this bird commemorates the soldier and naturalist Darius N. Couch.

The Tropical Kingbird is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

The Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) is a large tyrant flycatcher. This bird breeds from southern Arizona and the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the USA through Central America, South America as far as south as central Argentina and western Peru, and on Trinidad and Tobago. Birds from the northernmost and southern breeding areas migrate to warmer parts of the range after breeding. More

Widespread, common and adapatable, the Tropical Kingbird is not considered a threatened species by the IUCN. References - Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tyrannus melancholicus 1. ^ de A. Gabriel, Vagner & Pizo, Marco A. (2005): Foraging behavior of tyrant flycatchers (Aves, Tyrannidae) in Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 22(4): 1072–1077 . doi:10. More

Tropical Kingbird barely reaches the United States in south Texas and southern Arizona. More

The Tropical Kingbird is similar, except it had an orange touch on the top of the bill and an all grey head with dark eyes and bill. Cassin’s Kingbird is similar to these but has a throaty "vest" of white with yellow underparts. Cassin’s Kingbird has a "cape" of darker colored shoulders and wings, and a sweeping tail. More

(primary extension) is short in the Tropical Kingbird, moderate in the Couch's, and long in the Western. West-Tropical-tails-.jpg (19373 bytes) Both Couch's and Tropical kingbirds show extensive white or whitish edging up the length of the tail feathers, while this character seems not to be shown in Western. These two specimens of Western (L) and Tropical (R) were both collected on 18 January (one year apart), and look roughly to have about the same amount of wear (very little). WEKI-juv-tail. More

The adult Tropical Kingbird is 22cm long and weighs 39g. The head is pale grey, with a darker eye mask, an orange crown stripe, and a heavy grey bill. The back is greyish-green, and the wing and forked tail are brown. The throat is pale grey, becoming olive on the breast, with the rest of the underparts being yellow. More

Voice: In a nutshell, the vocalizations of Tropical Kingbirds have a more monotone, metallic quality, while Couch’s Kingbird are more varied and “breezy.” The calls of Tropical Kingbirds are a series of sharp, staccato “pip-pip-pip-pip” notes that accelerate toward the end. The vocalizations of Couch’s Kingbird often include sharp introductory “kip” notes, followed by “breeeer” notes. The dawn song of Couch’s often begins with a series of “breer” notes followed by “s’wee s’wee s’wee s’wee s’wee-i-chu.” Download MP3Listen (MP3, 54. More

distribution, the Tropical Kingbird is a conspicuous, widespread bird, ranging from central Mexico to central Argentina. Found in most climatic regimes—from deserts to wet lowlands to altitudes of more than 3,000 meters—it is common along roadsides and in open areas and appears to thrive in gardens, plazas, and other landscapes modified by humans. It is one of the best-known birds throughout its range because it tends to perch in open view, such as on wires, even in the heat of the day. More

The Tropical Kingbird has a large range, estimated globally at 17,000,000 square kilometers. Native to the Americas and nearby island nations, this bird prefers shrubland, wetland, or forest ecosystems, though it can live on arable or pastureland and in urban areas. The global population of this bird is estimated at 50,000,000 individuals and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Tropical Kingbird is Least Concern. More

● Similar species: Tropical Kingbird: Couch's Kingbird has different call and usually separate range. Western and Cassin's kingbirds lack dark cheeks and have less-forked tails. Cassin's Kingbird also has a darker breast, and Western Kingbird has white outer tail feathers. Thick-billed Kingbird usually has whiter underparts and darker head. Brown-crested, Ash-throated and Dusky-capped flycatchers have darker, browner crowns, and unforked tails. Flight Pattern Weak fluttering flight with shallow wing beats. More

tropical kingbirdTropical kingbirds have a pale gray head with a patch of orange on the crown, olive-gray upper parts, and a yellow breast and belly. They have a long brown forked tail and are about seven inches in length. Males and females look the same, but males have a slightly larger crown patch. Range The tropical kingbird breeds from southeastern Arizona and southern Texas to central Argentina. More

Jeff Lewis photographed this Tropical Kingbird on 27 November 2005 near Lake Phelps, Washington Co., NC. This bird was discovered by Ricky Davis on 19 November, "on the wires and shrubs in the immediate vicinity of the Tyson Grain Elevators at the beginning of the road that goes to the west end of the lake. DeLorme map has the road named Keep Rd. It turns off of Newland Road which runs from Roper to Cherry. More

Tropical Kingbird, the bird seen by me in Texas which inspired this piece was actually a Couch's Kingbird, then considered to be only a race of the Tropical. I was also obviously quite oblivious to the fact that the "race" occurring in Texas had quite a different vocalization, as you'll hear on the above website! To order, please contact me at MiriamEagl@aol.com. More

Above: A molting Tropical Kingbird in an open area north of Brownsville, Texas (8/4/2007). Below: Photographed near Old Fort Brown in Brownsville, Texas (4/23/2006). From the East-Above and below seven: Maryland's first-ever TROPICAL KINGBIRD, photographed in northern Somerset Co., Maryland (12/31/2006). This Central and South American species is found regularly in southern Texas and southern Arizona, but has rarely been seen on the East Coast. More

Having seen Tropical Kingbirds in Peru that showed white in the outer tail feathers, I decided to look up some fine details in the collections at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates. Looking at the wing formula as shown on the photographs provided by Willie D'Anna, I was guessing it was really a Couch's Kingbird. But Pat Kocinski's video clearly showed white outer tail feathers, as did Kurt Fox's still photographs, which can be seen at http://home.eznet.net/~kfox/wny/weki/tyrannus.htm. More

Tropical Kingbird determination Similar species Tyrannidae Amazonian Royal Flycatcher | Bearded Tachuri | Black-capped Becard | Black-chested Tyrant | Black-crowned Tityra | Black-tailed Tityra | Boat-billed Flycatcher | Boat-billed Tody-Tyrant | Bran-coloured Flycatcher | Brown-crested Flycatcher | Cinereous Becard | Cinereous Mourner | Cinnamon Attila | Cinnamon-crested Spadebill | Cliff Flycatcher | Common Tody-Flycatcher | Double-banded Pygmy-tyrant | Drab Water-Tyrant More

I checked most Tropical Kingbird photos on Flickr. 99% were from Mexico south to Brazil. A few post breeding dispersal birds were nomadically wandering to the west coast-CA and OR. (this is VERY RARE) To take full advantage of Flickr, you should use a JavaScript-enabled browser and install the latest version of the Macromedia Flash Player. More