| Kingbirds | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Tyrannidae |
| Genus: | Tyrannus Lacépède, 1799 |
| Type species | |
| Lanius tyrannus | |
| Species | |
See text. | |
Tyrannus is a genus of small passerine birds in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae that are native to the Americas. The majority are named as kingbirds.
They prefer semi-open or open areas. These birds wait on an exposed perch and then catch insects in flight. [1] They have long pointed wings and large broad bills. These birds tend to defend their breeding territories aggressively, often chasing away much larger birds. A kingbird was photographed in 2009 defending its young by landing on and sinking its talons into the back of a red-tailed hawk and pecking its skull until the red-tailed hawk gave up and flew away. [2]
The genus was introduced in 1799 by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède with the eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) as the type species. [3] The genus name is the Latin word for 'tyrant'. [4]
The genus contains 13 species: [5]
| Image | Common Name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Snowy-throated kingbird | Tyrannus niveigularis | Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru |
 | White-throated kingbird | Tyrannus albogularis | Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, and in the Guianas of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana |
 | Tropical kingbird | Tyrannus melancholicus | Southern Arizona and the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States through Central America, South America as far south as central Argentina and western Peru, and on Trinidad and Tobago |
 | Couch's kingbird | Tyrannus couchii | Central and southern Texas along the Gulf Coast to the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, Belize and northern Guatemala. |
 | Cassin's kingbird | Tyrannus vociferans | California and from Montana to Utah, along the eastern Rocky Mountains, and northern Central America |
 | Thick-billed kingbird | Tyrannus crassirostris | Southeastern Arizona and extreme southwestern New Mexico in the United States and northern Sonora (the Madrean sky islands) through the western and western-coastal ranges in Mexico, south to western Guatemala. |
 | Western kingbird | Tyrannus verticalis | Western half of the United States and the Pacific coast of southern Mexico and Central America. |
 | Scissor-tailed flycatcher | Tyrannus forficatus | United States, in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, western portions of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri, and far eastern New Mexico; northeastern Mexico |
 | Fork-tailed flycatcher | Tyrannus savana | Central Mexico to central Argentina |
 | Eastern kingbird | Tyrannus tyrannus | Open areas across North America |
 | Gray kingbird | Tyrannus dominicensis | United States (mainly in Florida), through Central America and the Caribbean (from Cuba to Puerto Rico as well as eastward towards all across the Lesser West Indies), south to Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, the Guianas, and Colombia. |
 | Giant kingbird | Tyrannus cubensis | Cuba |
 | Loggerhead kingbird | Tyrannus caudifasciatus | West Indies: The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and, very rarely, Florida in the United States. |
A harrier is a member of the genus Circus in Accipitridae, a family of birds of prey. Harriers characteristically hunt by flying low over open ground, feeding on small mammals, reptiles, or birds. The young of the species are sometimes referred to as ring-tail harriers. They are distinctive with long wings, a long narrow tail, the slow and low flight over grasslands and skull peculiarities. The harriers are thought to have diversified with the expansion of grasslands and the emergence of C4 grasses about 6 to 8 million years ago during the Late Miocene and Pliocene.
The northern harrier, also known as the marsh hawk or ring-tailed hawk, is a bird of prey. It breeds throughout the northern parts of the northern hemisphere in Canada and the northernmost USA.
The eastern kingbird is a large tyrant flycatcher native to the Americas. The bird is predominantly dark gray with white underbelly and pointed wings. Eastern kingbirds are conspicuous and are commonly found in open areas with scattered trees and bushes, where they perch while foraging for insects. The Eastern kingbird is migratory, with its breeding range spread across North America and its wintering range in Central and South America.
The western kingbird is a large tyrant flycatcher found throughout western environments of North America, as far south as Mexico.
The scissor-tailed flycatcher, known as swallow-tailed flycatcher or scissorstail, is a long-tailed insectivorous bird of the genus Tyrannus, whose members are collectively referred to as kingbirds. Its scientific name used to be Muscivora forficata until it was changed to Tyrannus forficatus. It is found in North and Central America, and is Oklahoma's State Bird.
Milvus is a genus of medium-sized birds of prey. The genus was erected by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799 with the red kite as the type species. The name is the Latin word for the red kite.
The tropical kingbird is a large tyrant flycatcher. This bird breeds from southern Arizona and the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in the United States through Central America, South America as far as south as central Argentina and eastern Peru, and on Trinidad and Tobago. Birds from the northernmost and southern breeding areas migrate to warmer parts of the range after breeding.
The yellow-rumped cacique is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It breeds in much of northern South America from Panama and Trinidad south to Peru, Bolivia and central Brazil. However, they have been sighted as far north as Nayarit state in Mexico.
The gray kingbird or grey kingbird, also known as pitirre, petchary or white-breasted kingbird, is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatchers family Tyrannidae. The species was first described on the island of Hispaniola, then called Santo Domingo, thus the dominicensis name.
The caciques are passerine birds in the New World blackbird family which are resident breeders in tropical South America north to Mexico. All of the group are in currently placed in the genus Cacicus, except the aberrant yellow-billed cacique, and the Mexican cacique which constitute respective monotypic genera. Judging from mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 sequence, the aberrant oropendolas band-tailed oropendola and casqued oropendola, Psarocolius oseryi seem to be closer to the caciques.
Picoides is a genus of woodpeckers that are native to Eurasia and North America, commonly known as three-toed woodpeckers.
The chestnut-fronted macaw or severe macaw is one of the largest of the mini-macaws. It reaches a size of around 45 cm (18 in) of which around half is the length of the tail.
Cassin's kingbird is a large tyrant flycatcher native to western North America. The name of this bird commemorates the American ornithologist John Cassin.
The fork-tailed flycatcher is a passerine bird of the tyrant flycatcher family and is a member of a genus typically referred to as kingbirds. Named for the distinguishably long, forked tail, particularly in males, fork-tailed flycatchers are seen in shrubland, savanna, lightly forested and grassland areas, from southern Mexico to south past Argentina. They are most frequently observed sitting on conspicuous perches waiting for flying arthropods to fly past, they then sally out, eat their prey, and return to their perches. Northern populations near southern Mexico tend to be permanent residents, while fork-tailed flycatchers that live further south are migrants with a reputation for wandering to as far north as New Brunswick, Canada.
The long-winged harrier is a common bird of prey species endemic to South America. They are members of the family Accipitridae, under the genus Circus which encompasses other harrier species. Its range encompasses most of South America, in grassland and wetland all across the continent. The long-winged harrier is a carnivorous bird, and will feed on many different animals found in its habitat. Like owls and other harrier species, the long-winged harrier has a distinctive facial disc, which is used to triangulate the bird's hearing while it is hunting.
The Philippine dwarf kingfisher is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to the Philippines found in the islands of Luzon, Polillo Islands, Catanduanes, Basilan, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The loggerhead kingbird is a species of sub-oscine passerine bird belonging to the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. This species is found in wooded habitats in the islands of the northern Caribbean, with records of vagrants from Florida.
Ceyx is an Old World genus of river kingfishers. These kingfishers are found from South East Asia to the Solomon Islands.
The Alaska red-tailed hawk is a subspecies of red-tailed hawk that breeds from southeastern coastal Alaska to Haida Gwaii and Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Despite its northerly distribution, this is the second smallest of the red-tailed hawks. Only the Jamaican red-tailed hawk is smaller. Little is known about this subspecies compared to other subspecies of red-tailed hawk.
Astur is a genus containing hawks, goshawks and sparrowhawks in the family Accipitridae. The species were formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.
| Authority control databases: National |
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