Cassin’s Kingbird, Tyrannus vociferans

Cassin’s Kingbird, Tyrannus vociferans vociferans. Photograph taken in the greater Santa Ynez region of California, March 2011. Photograph courtesy of Dr. Tom Bartol, Carlsbad, California.

Cassin’s Kingbird, Tyrannus vociferans vociferans. Photograph taken within a residential community in Alamos, Sonora, April 2018. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

Cassin’s Kingbird, Tyrannus vociferans vociferans. Photograph taken within a residential community in Hereford, Arizona, June 2016. Photograph and identification courtesy of Bob Behrstock, Sierra Vista, Arizona (naturewideimages.com).

The Cassin’s Kingbird, Tyrannus vociferans vociferans, is one of two subspecies of Cassin’s Kingbird, both of which are found in Mexico, and is a member of the Tyrannidae Family of Tyrant Flycatchers. There are thirteen global members of the Tyrannus Genus. They are known in Mexico as tirano gritón.

Cassin’s Kingbird is large in stature. The sexes are similar in appearance and the plumages are maintained year-round. Their head has a dark-gray with an orange-red patch on the crown, a broad pointed bill and an ocular stripe. They have a white chin, a gray throat and upper breast and the remaining underparts are yellow. Their back is paler than the long wings, and the primaries are emarginated. Their tail is short and brownish-black. Their bill is black, their iris is dark brown and their legs and feet are black brownish-black.

Cassin’s Kingbird is found in riparian areas, arid pine-oak, oak-scrub, thorn scrub, thorn forest at elevations between 700 m (2,300 feet) and 3,000 m (9,800 feet). They are known as being a noisy conspicuous flycatcher with an aggressive, domineering behavior toward potential predators. They consume a wide variety of insects and small berries and wild fruits. Breeding occurs in large trees within arid riparian areas. Breeding occurs at higher elevations that those of other similar species. The females build the nest, incubates the eggs, and broods the nestlings, while the male perches nearby. Both mates feed nestlings.

Cassin’s Kingbird can be easily confused with Couch’s Kingbird, Tyrannus couchii (longer notched tail, paler rump and back), the Thick-billed Kingbird, Tyrannus crassirostris (large, thick bill), the Tropical Kingbird, Tyrannus melancholicus (longer notched tail, paler rump and back), and the Western Kingbird, Tyrannus verticalis (black tail).

In Mexico Cassin’s Kingbird is found in Baja California, and from western Sonora and Chihuahua south to Oaxaca. They are known to winter in Baja California Sur and Chiapas. The vociferans subspecies is widely found throughout Mexico in the states of Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, México, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz , and Zacatecas. They are a partial migrate with individuals from northern Mexico wintering in southern Mexico with a resident population being found in central and southern Mexico.

From a conservation perspective the Cassin’s Kingbird is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. Their similarity in lifestyles with the Western Kingbird, Tyrannus verticalis, has drawn the attention of the scientific community.