Eastern Kingbird

After over a week of frustration, I have finally figured out what species this bird is. Every day after work while walking to my car I have been hearing a series of chirps from a bird that I did not recognize. I am not familiar with every single birdsong in the area, but I can usually recognize the more common ones. This bird presented me with a challenge though, because I could hear him loud and clear but I could never get a good look at him. I would be able to pinpoint the tree the bird was in, but I could never find the actual singer. I swear after a few days it felt like these birds were actually taunting me. Just as I would get close enough to the tree the birds would fly farther away to the next tree. Yet they would keep chirping as if they were singing how foolish I looked squinting up at them. 

Well this morning to my delight I was able to get a great view of these pretty fellas. My coworker and I were walking in from the parking lot and the birds were soaring over us. There were probably 5 or 6 of them all together. Since they were flying and almost floating above us I was able to see their bright white underbellies and the shape of their tails with a distinctive white stripe on the end. That was my "Aha!" moment. This new SCC bird friend  is the Eastern Kingbird.

The Eastern Kingbird is a medium sized song-bird with black upperparts and white underparts. It's long tail is dark with a bright white stripe on the end. He has a bright yellow-orange patch on his crown that is rarely visible. I was not able to see the patches on the birds on campus. According to my research, the Eastern Kingbird typically perches in an exposed location such as the very top of a tree or on a fence. They live in open areas since they need lots of space for hunting and trees for building nests.

This bird is a type of flycatcher and it's name Tyrannus tyrannus means tyrant. This name seems fitting because the birds are very territorial and are known to chase off birds no matter what their size. In fact, it is not uncommon to see an Eastern Kingbird chasing off a crow, raven or even a hawk. Also, a kingbird was observed to once knock a Blue Jay out of a tree and cause it to hide under bush to escape the attack. Cool!

Eastern Kingbirds feed on insects and typically they will catch them in the air and fly back to their perch. They also eat berries and fruit mainly in their wintering areas. In winter, they can be found along the Amazon. You will only see them here in MO during the summer breeding season. The Kingbirds nest in trees mostly in agricultural areas but can also be found using urban parks and golf courses. Maybe the birds I see everyday are visiting from the "Mid Rivers Golf Course" across the street!

Not only are these birds aggressive, they are also smart. The Eastern Kingbird can recognize and remove cowbird eggs from their nests. (Cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds' nests which typically fools the bird into parenting the cowbird young. What lazy parents!) Eastern Kingbirds are also known to hide their nests well and defend their young from predators.  The juvenile kinbirds look just like the adults only their upper feathers are more brownish and they lack the yellow-orange crown.

I am very excited to discover this beautiful bird frequents our campus. Sometimes I start to complain about how far I have to walk from the parking lot to get to my building (especially in the heat) but now I will enjoy looking at and listening to the cheerful chirps of the Eastern Kingbird.