Tropical Kingbird

Extremely Rare Kingbird Sighted at Cambridge Narrows

Tropical Kingbird

 It is unheard of to find a Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) in New Brunswick.  But on October 27, 2019 one was seen at Cambridge Narrows sitting on wires, by an astute birder as he drove past.  That was an incredible find, both in the presence of the bird and in the fact that it was spotted by a birder who recognized it as unusual.

We have eight species of kingbirds which can be seen in North America.  In New Brunswick the Eastern Kingbird is common in summer and breeds here.   The Western Kingbird is a casual spring visitor and sometimes seen in the fall.  The other six species have not been seen here except for the Tropical Kingbird which, according to Jim Wilson, has been seen briefly at Tabusintac in October, 2015 and at Lameque in November, 2017 and possibly a third at Cape Tourmentine in 2017 which may have been the same bird as the former.  These sightings were not confirmed because no sound was heard.

Tropical Kingbird

The Tropical Kingbird is a large flycatcher (23 cm/ 9 in) long with a light gray head, olive-gray back, white throat, a dark eyeline, dark yellow upper breast and bright yellow lower breast, belly and vent, and gray-brown wings and tail.  It has a large black bill and a notched tail.  Males and females are similar.

The Tropical Kingbird cannot be differentiated from the Couch's Kingbird by sight or photographs only.  The only way to tell them apart is by voice.  And, fortunately this recent bird has been vocal and heard by many observers.  The Tropical Kingbird's call is a high-pitched twittering sound all on one pitch.  The call of Couch's Kingbird is a high-pitched descending call sounding like 'breeear'.  Birders today have electronic devices which can play bird songs so it is not difficult to differentiate songs.  Our visitor is a Tropical Kingbird.

Tropical Kingbird [Nelson Poirier Photo]

Where should this bird normally be?  Well, it a long way from home!  Its normal summer breeding grounds are in south-eastern Arizona, northern Mexico and along the lower Rio Grande River in Texas.  It winters in Mexico's coastal areas and into South America to southern Bolivia, southeastern  Brazil and Argentina.  This species is known to wander widely and has been found as far out of its range as Maine, Alaska, Bermuda (and New Brunswick).  It first came to the US to Arizona in 1938.

This week we watched this bird feed, flying out from a high perch and to capture insects.  Apparently it also eats fruit and berries and will readily take mealworms.

A couple of interesting facts about this species; during courtship the perched male flaps its wings vigorously and sometimes lifts straight up.  Also, it has a distinctive dawn song which is sung just before sunrise.  It would be fun to hear it.