Family: Tyrannidae, Tyrant Flycatchers view all from this family

Description 8-9" (20-23 cm). Olive-brown above, yellow below; gray head, lighter grayish throat and upper breast. Dusky wings and blackish tail with white margins. Red crown feathers not normally visible.

Habitat Open country; ranches, roadsides, streams, and ponds with trees.

Nesting 4 creamy-white eggs in a stick nest lined with plant fibers and placed in a tree or bush.

Range Breeds throughout West, from southern Canada south to Mexico, east to Great Plains. Regular fall migrant on Atlantic Coast. Winters in tropics.

Voice   A loud, sharp kit. Various chattering notes.

Discussion The Western Kingbird is found on almost every ranch in the West, where alfalfa and livestock pastures provide many of the flying insects that make up the bulk of its diet. Like the Horned Lark, the Western Kingbird has benefited from the cutting of forests; the species has moved eastward in recent decades. After the young fledge it is not uncommon to see half a dozen or more kingbirds sally from the dry upper branches of shade trees to capture insects. When it has a nest full of young to defend, the Western Kingbird will attack crows and other larger birds. In the Southwest, especially in arid regions, there are two other kingbirds, Cassin's (Tyrannus vociferans) and Tropical (Tyrannus melancholicus), that look like the Western; however, the Western is distinguished by white feathers on the sides of the black tail.