The Cassin’s Kingbird is an extremely fascinating creature. One of the most unique features they show is their ability to communicate vocally in situations with little to no visibility. Being extremely vocal birds, they have several different vocalizations that they use for specialized purposes.
About Cassin’s Kingbirds
In line with their constant song is their scientific name, Tyrannus vociferans, translating to “vociferous tyrant”. They share interesting relationships with members of their Kingbird family and often display competitive traits. Highly defensive of their nests and young ones, they attack any kind of potential predator approaching their territory, even Hawks. They compete with other Kingbirds, due to the fact that their ranges often overlap.
Now that we have piqued your interest, let us learn more about Cassin’s Kingbirds. In this blog, you will learn about:
● Cassin’s Kingbird Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Cassin’s Kingbird Size, Eating behavior, Habitat
● Cassin’s Kingbird Range and Migration, Nesting
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Cassin’s Kingbird Color Pattern
Cassin’s Kingbirds are large, Yellow-bellied Flycatchers. They have dark gray crowns, and patches on their crowns that can be orange, burnt orange, or red. They have white chins which have a striking contrast to their dark gray heads. Their upper breasts are also gray which contrasts with the yellow of their remaining underparts. Their backs are slightly lighter or paler than the gray of their wings. Cassin’s Kingbird wings can also show a graded color scheme of gray to brown, with brownish-black tails. Their wings and tails have white margins as a trim, giving the birds a striking appearance.
Their ocular stripes are not noticeably darker than their crowns and lower throats. The sexes share a typical color palette, but the females have thinner trimmings on their wings and tails. Their plumages remain similar throughout the year.
These birds have black bills, with the base of their lower mandibles a dull brown hue, and a gape in juvenile orange. Their irises are dark brown or black. Their feet are deep brown or blackish.
Juvenile members share a similar color pattern to the adults, but lack the warm-toned crown patches and have brownish upper parts and buff tips on their upper tail coverts.
The hatchlings of this species emerge a pale pinkish color and can range from pale pinkish cinnamon to pinkish buff.
Description and Identification
Cassin’s Kingbirds have compact, sturdy bodies that look like the average Flycatcher. Their upper mandibles curve over their lower mandibles at the tip, which assists them in foraging and carrying food. They are likely to be confused with several other species of Flycatchers by a layman, especially other Yellow-bellied Kingbirds. These birds bear close visual resemblance to Thick-billed Kingbirds, Tropical Kingbirds, Couch’s Kingbirds, and Western Kingbirds.
As the name suggests, Thick-billed Kingbirds have larger and thicker bills, along with darker crowns, foreheads and ear coverts, and olive or greenish backs. These features can differentiate them from Cassin’s Kingbirds.
We can distinguish Cassin’s Kingbirds from Tropical and Couch’s Kingbirds by remembering that the latter have notched, longer tails, along with paler rumps and backs, shorter wings, and thinner margins than the former. Cassin’s Kingbirds also have narrower bills and duller yellow underparts that end on their lower breasts, in contrast to brighter yellow underparts that extend well into the breasts.
Western Kingbirds are slightly smaller in size from Cassin’s, and they have blackish tails (as opposed to blackish-brown tails), with white outer webs. Their crowns, breasts, and throats are pale gray, thereby having less of a distinctive contrast with their whitish chins. They also have thicker margins than Cassin’s Kingbirds, with olive-gray backs.
Cassin’s Kingbird Song
These birds are rightly termed “the noisiest flycatchers”. Not only do they emit noises frequently, but they also have a wide range of recorded calls. Their calls are used in a myriad of situations, in combination or alone. Male individuals call more frequently than females. These vocalizations are used extensively as their habitats are often in low visibility. Let us take a closer look at the different types of their calls.
Their Regularly Repeated Vocalizations or RRV, also referred to in common parlance as their “dawn song”. Consisting of 2 distinct segments, it is usually given out by males. The first part of the call is a raspy sound that has one or two syllables. This resembles a “keeycyur” noise. Following this, the bird emits a call that begins raspy and then descends into “chevron-shaped” elements with a modulated amplitude, in the form of “rruh-rruh rreahr” sounds. The RRV is sung from predawn twilight, until shortly before sunrise. This is often by males for the purpose of counter calling or negotiating with other adults when their nests are in proximity of each other.
Locomotory Hesitance Complex of Vocalizations, or LHV, is another series of 2 consecutive elements primarily used by males. The 2 elements are similar in substance, a loud “ch-tuur or ch-teer”, or the occasional “k-beehrr”. LHVs are
accompanied by tail spreading and wing flutters. This vocalization is also performed during post-dawn hours while strolling or patrolling the habitat, from an elevated area. When the female Kingbirds do use this vocalization, it is usually when they are agitated after leaving their nest. They do not emit them in couplets, but in individual spurts, and sometimes feature two peaks. More common Hesitance Vocalizations can take the form of “tch-wEEer and rrFurrr”, used for the same purpose.
The Compound Vocalization is in a lower pitch but still has more shrill than the LHV. It is a rapid, piercing, tinny, “ki-dih, ki-dih, ki-dih” accompanied by bickering chatter. Males use this call whilst patrolling. Cassin’s Kingbirds also let out buzzing noises while feeding their young.
Cassin’s Kingbird Size
On average, Cassin’s Kingbirds weigh 1.6 ounces and are 8.3 to 9.1 inches long. These averages are across sexes and local populations.
Males are significantly bigger in size than females. The average wingspan of males is 5.1 inches, while that of females is 4.78 inches. The average tail length is 3.65 inches for males and 3.51 inches for females.
Cassin’s Kingbird Behavior
As we have already learnt, they are extremely noisy birds and use songs to communicate in areas of dense vegetation and low visibility.
Their powerful build allows them to sally or to catch flying insects. Their agility goes a long way in helping them pursuing feed. They fly from perch to perch, or from perch to the ground, and then back to the perch. These Kingbirds enjoy perching on elevated branches or wires.
During fall migration, they gather in large numbers to roost in groups. They are highly defensive of their nesting area, and the males regularly patrol the nest site and empty areas to ward off predators. They are also competitive over the nest sites, and frequently countercall if there are nests too close to theirs.
These birds are extremely active after dawn and throughout most of the day. They seek shade on days when it is extremely hot. Their extensive use of song makes them easy to spot.
Cassin’s Kingbird Diet
Cassin’s Kingbirds have diets consisting primarily of insects of a wide variety. This includes wasps, beetles, caterpillars, moths, grasshoppers, flies, true bugs, ants, and even some arthropods such as non-poisonous spiders. The main criteria here is that they are small enough for them to carry and swallow, and once masticated to feed to their young ones.
They also eat select berries and small fruits, in quantities larger than most other breeds of Flycatchers.
Their curved upper mandibles equip them with a special ability to grip food while foraging, which lets them fly with the food in their beak.
Cassin’s Kingbird Habitat
This breed of Kingbird can take to a vast range of habitats. They gravitate towards lightly wooded habitats, but also commo0nly settle in open areas. Their permanent habitats can vary from lowlands with sporadic vegetation (desert scrub, agricultural areas, grasslands, and even cottonwood-edged rivers) to canyons and foothills with pine, oak, juniper, and pinyon pine.
The factors of prime importance to these birds while selecting a habitat are the presence of nest-building material, availability of food, and population density of other birds.
Their breeding and non-breeding habitats can vary greatly. These birds prefer more densely wooded areas during their breeding season as compared to other species of Kingbirds. They also inhabit spots of higher elevation than other Kingbirds. During migration and the winter, they tend to gravitate towards more open habitats.
Range and Migration
These birds are only partial migrants, with adult members that breed in the United States and northern parts of Mexico migrating in a southern direction in the fall. They have found resident populations in central and southern regions of Mexico. Migration away from breeding sites is irregular and infrequent.
Spring migration occurs during the mid-March to early June window. Fall migration occurs in the window between late July and October, with the volume peaking during September. Wintertime migration can occur anywhere from late November to early February and is the most recorded season of migration.
Cassin’s Kingbird Lifecycle
The mean size of a single clutch is 4. The eggs can be white or creamy, with a mix of brown and pale lavender spots. They are similar in appearance to the eggs of Eastern Kingbirds and Western Kingbirds but are not as heavily marked.
Egg-laying begins less than ten days after the nest construction is complete, and can even start on the first day in some cases. Hatchlings emerge with a sparse cover of down feathers that are buffy white. Both adults of the pair bring the nestlings food.
We do not know the average lifespan of Cassin’s Kingbirds, evidence suggests that they are similar to other members of the Kingbird family, such as the Western Kingbird’s lifespan of around 6 years, 11 months, and that of the Eastern Kingbird is 9 years and 11 months.
Nesting
The tree species chosen to host the nests vary according to climate and geography. Sycamores, oaks, and junipers are some common trees for nesting. The females take on the role of nest building. They gather the material from the ground or plants, but on occasion take materials from the nests of other Kingbirds. The nests are large, bulky cups. They resemble the nests that Western Kingbirds make but are more sturdy. The base of the nest is made of small twigs, roots, weed stems, small strips of bark, dry leaves, and any other plant fibers. The sides and rims are often decorated with feathers or dried flowers. The cavities of the nests are often decorated with finer rootlets, soft grasses, and even small feathers. The nests rest on top of horizontal branches. The mean external diameter of the nests is 7.87 inches, and the mean height is 2.95 inches. There is evidence to suggest that the nests are occasionally reused.
Anatomy of a Cassin’s Kingbird
Cassin’s Kingbirds are compact and agile. They have thick, straight bills, small heads and wings, and tails of moderate length. Their culmens are exposed. As mentioned earlier, the males are notably larger than the females.
Final Thoughts
To conclude, we must prioritize further research on this bird’s phenology and behavior. While we know that it deftly uses multiple methods of vocalization to communicate, we must study this further to explore their behavior and motivation.
These Kingbirds are not a conservation priority. They are of little economic importance, and therefore they are not shot and trapped for trade or food. However, there is a large scope for the study of the impact of agriculture and pesticide use on their population. Their population is on a slight decline, which is likely caused by mass deforestation and urbanization.
There is also scope for research on the nonmigratory populations of this bird, and the interactions between migratory and nonmigratory Cassin’s Kingbirds. All in all, these birds, fondly referred to as tyrants are incredibly agile, nimble, and competitive creatures, that remind us of the immense intelligence of wildlife.
Ornithology
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