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Western Kingbird |
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Tyrannus verticalis |
| Description: 8-9" olive-brown above, yellow below, gray head, lighter grayish throat and upper breast, dusky wings, and blackish tail with white markings, red crown feathers not normally visible | Habitat: Dry, open country with scattered trees, agricultural regions, ranches, towns, riparian habitat, prairies. Often seen perching on utility wires or fence posts. Common and widespread at low to moderate elevations. |
| Nesting: 4 creamy white eggs in a stick nest lined with plant fibers, placed in a tree or bush | Range: breeds throughout west from Canada south to Mexico west to Great Plains, Oklahoma, winters mostly in tropics, few in Florida |
| Voice: loud sharp kit, chatters much like a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher | Diet: insects, berries |
| Notes: has benefited from deforestation, reproductive success varies with insect abundance; when insects abundant, clutches are larger and initiated earlier, nestlings are fed more often and grow faster, on territory very aggressive toward other birds, especially hawks |