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UrbanCup nestSmall · 37 g
What the Tropical Kingbird sounds like
ID tip
An adult tropical kingbird is 22 cm (8.7 in) long, weighs 39 g (1.4 oz) and has a wingspan range of 38–41 cm. The head is pale gray, with a darker eye mask, an orange crown stripe, and a heavy gray bill. The back is grayish-green, and the wing and forked tail are brown. The throat is pale gray, becoming olive on the breast, with the rest of the underparts being yellow. The sexes are similar, but young birds have pale buff edges on the wing coverts.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Tropical Kingbird
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is January, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Tropical Kingbird
The map shades 27 countries with regular records, and 2 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in Cuba, Cayman Islands.
About the Tropical Kingbird
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.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Western KingbirdTyrannus verticalisAdults are a combination of both gray and yellow plumage, along with crimson feathers that are hidden until courtship or against intruders.
Cassin's KingbirdTyrannus vociferansAdults have a gray head with slightly darker cheeks; a dark unforked tail with a buffy fringe and gray-olive underparts.
Scissor-tailed FlycatcherTyrannus forficatusAdult birds have pale gray heads and upper parts, light underparts, salmon-pink flanks and undertail coverts, and dark gray wings.
Side by side: Eastern Kingbird vs Tropical Kingbird · Great Kiskadee vs Tropical Kingbird · Tropical Kingbird vs Western Kingbird · Cassin's Kingbird vs Tropical Kingbird · Scissor-tailed Flycatcher vs Tropical Kingbird
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