Loggerhead kingbird

Last updated

Loggerhead kingbird
Tyrannus caudifasciatus -Camaguey Province, Cuba-8 (2).jpg
In Camagüey Province, Cuba
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Tyrannidae
Genus: Tyrannus
Species:
T. caudifasciatus
Binomial name
Tyrannus caudifasciatus
d'Orbigny, 1839
Tyrannus caudifasciatus map.svg

The loggerhead kingbird (Tyrannus caudifasciatus) 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.

Contents

Taxonomy

The loggerhead kingbird was first formally described in 1839 by the French naturalist Alcide d'Orbigny with its type locality given as Cuba. [2] This species is classified within the genus Tyrannus within the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant or New World flycatchers. The Tyrannidae are placed within the parvorder Tyrannides within the order Passeriformes, the perching birds. [3]

Subspecies

The loggerhead kingbird is subdivided into the following subspecies: [4]

The Puerto Rican subspecies, T. c. taylori, has been proposed as a separate species, the Puerto Rican kingbird (T. taylori). [5]

Description

The loggerhead kingbird has a length of 24 to 26 cm (9.4 to 10.2 in), and is a large species of kingbird with a heavy bill. It is two-toned dark upper parts and lighter underparts. The head, apart from the throat, is black with an orange patch on the topmost part of the crown which is rarely seen. [6] The upperparts are gray and the underparts are lighter in color. In most populations there is a grayish band at the end of the tail, although this can be white. [7]

Distribution and habitat

The loggerhead kingbird is found in throughout the northern West Indies, in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Isla de la Juventud, Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), Jamaica and Puerto Rico. [4] It very rarely occurs in southern Florida as a vagrant. [8] [7] Its natural habitats are woodlands, pine and broad-leafed forest, shade coffee palntations, mangroves and open park-like habitats. It can be found from the coast to into the lower parts of mountainous areas. [6]

Biology

The loggerhead kingbird feeds on flying insects, small fruit and berries, and small lizards. [9] It is frequently observed hunting from exposed perches. [6] In Puerto Rico this species builds a cup shaped nest, fabricated from twigs, stems and grass. The pair vocalize constantly during courtship, making rattling and other loud calls, persistently chasing one another. Both male and female choose the nest site and once the selection has been made then the pair make low glides over the site before the female perches on the site. When she perches she flattens herself against the supporting branch, turning in a circle while vocalising and fluttering her wings while the males joins in the vocalizing and erects his normally concealed. brightly colored crown feathers. On Puerto Rico breeding is mainly observed between February and July but nest building can begin in November. [5] The clutch size is 2-4 eggs, except Jamaica where 4-5 eggs was the average. The adults are very aggressive towards other birds invading their territories and this may be why shiny cowbird (molothurus bonairensis) nest parasitism was not recorded for this species. It is a sedentary species, unlike the related gray kingbird (T. dominicensis) and it will move into the preferred habitat of the gray kingbird when the latter migrates away from the islands in winter. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyranni</span> Suborder of birds

The Tyranni (suboscines) are a suborder of passerine birds that includes more than 1,000 species, the large majority of which are South American. It is named after the type genus Tyrannus. These have a different anatomy of the syrinx musculature than the oscines, hence the common name of suboscines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern kingbird</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western kingbird</span> Species of bird

The western kingbird is a large tyrant flycatcher found throughout western environments of North America, as far south as Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropical kingbird</span> Species of perching bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuban tody</span> Species of bird

The Cuban tody is a bird species in the family Todidae that is restricted to Cuba and the adjacent islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Couch's kingbird</span> Species of bird

Couch's kingbird is a passerine tyrant flycatcher of the kingbird genus. It is found from southern Texas along the Gulf Coast to the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, Belize and northern Guatemala. It is also found in the lower stretches of the Rio Grande Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cassin's kingbird</span> Species of bird

Cassin's kingbird is a large tyrant flycatcher native to western North America. The name of this bird commemorates the American ornithologist John Cassin.

<i>Spindalis</i> Genus of birds

Spindalis is a genus consisting of four non-migratory species of bird. It is the only genus in the family Spindalidae. The species are mostly endemic to the West Indies; exceptions include populations of western spindalises on Cozumel Island, off the Yucatán Peninsula's east coast, and in extreme southeastern Florida. The species were traditionally considered aberrant members of the tanager family Thraupidae. Taxonomic studies recover them as a sister group to the Puerto Rican tanager, and some group Spindalidae and Nesospingidae within the Phaenicophilidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fork-tailed flycatcher</span> Species of bird

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 their distinguishably long, forked tail, fork-tailed flycatchers are seen in lightly forested or 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuban pewee</span> Species of bird

The Cuban pewee or crescent-eyed pewee is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is found in Cuba and the northern Bahamas. It was formerly lumped with the Hispaniolan pewee and Jamaican pewee as a single species, the Greater Antillean pewee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smoke-colored pewee</span> Species of bird

The smoke-colored pewee is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. The species is characterized by a uniform dusky-grey plumage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giant kingbird</span> Species of bird

The giant kingbird is a species of bird in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae endemic to Cuba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuban black hawk</span> Species of bird

The Cuban black hawk is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It is endemic to Cuba and several outlying cays.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Tyrannus caudifasciatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22700513A93782147. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22700513A93782147.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. Alcide d'Orbigny (1839). "Aves". Mamiferos y Aves. Historia fisica, politica y natural de la isla de Cuba (in Spanish). Paris. p. 70.
  3. Jan N I. Ohlson; Martin Irestedt; Per G. P. Ericson; Jon Fieldsa (2013). "Phylogeny and classification of the New World suboscines (Aves, Passeriformes)". Zootaxa. 3613 (1): 1–35. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3613.1.1. PMID   24698900.
  4. 1 2 "Loggerhead Kingbird Tyrannus caudifasciatus d'Orbigny, ACVMD 1839". Avibase. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  5. 1 2 "Loggerhead Kingbird". Birds of Puerto Rico. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 Herbert Raffaele; James Wiley; Orlando Garrido; Allan Keith; Janis Raffaele (2003). Birds of the West Indies. Helm Field Guides. Christopher Helm. p. 120. ISBN   978-0-7136-5419-6.
  7. 1 2 "Loggerhead Kingbird Tyrannus caudifasciatus". eBird . Cornell Lab of Ornithology . Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  8. "Loggerhead Kingbird". Bords of North America. Brian Young. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  9. Garrido, Orlando H.; Kirkconnell, Arturo (2000). Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba. Ithaca, NY: Comstock, Cornell University Press. p. 159. ISBN   978-0-8014-8631-9.
  10. James W. Wiley; Orlando H. Garrido; Arturo Kirkconnell (2010). "Natural History Notes on the Loggerhead Kingbird (Tyrannus caudifasciatus)". Journal of Caribbean Ornithology. 23: 19–30.
  11. "Loggerhead Kingbird (Tyrannus caudifasciatus)". 2 February 2019.