Arkansas king tyrant

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Arkansas king tyrant
Arkansas king tyrant (Tyrannus verticalis)

Arkansas king tyrant ( Tyrannus verticalis )

Systematics
Subordination : Screeching Birds (Tyranni)
Family : Tyrants (Tyrannidae)
Subfamily : Tyranninae
Tribe : Tyrannins
Genre : Tyrannus
Type : Arkansas king tyrant
Scientific name
Tyrannus verticalis
Say , 1823

The western kingbird ( Tyrannus verticalis ) is a bird art from the family of tyrants (Tyrannidae). It is common in large parts of western North America and mostly common there. The species was first collected during a research expedition in Arkansas around 1820 , but occurs only very rarely in this state with single breeding pairs, as the eastern limit of distribution runs here.

The species colonizes open landscapes and feeds mainly on larger insects that are caught in flight from a control room. During the breeding season, the Arkansas king tyrant, like other species, attracts attention due to the very aggressive defense against enemies and the associated threatening behavior.

description

The Arkansas King Tyrant reaches a body length of 20–24 cm and an average weight of 38 g. There is no sexual dimorphism . The bill, legs and feet are black.

In adult birds, the head, neck, chest and nape of the neck are light gray with a lightened throat and a dark gray eye stripe that runs out to the ear covers. An orange-red spot on the head is almost always covered by the surrounding plumage. The back and shoulder plumage are rather brownish-gray, the wing plumage is brownish black with light edges. The outer edges of the otherwise black control feathers have white hems. The underside, including the under tail-covers, is sulfur yellow.

The youth dress differs only in the less intense coloring of the underside. Subspecies are not described.

The Arkansaskönigstyrann is similar to the closely related species Cassinkönigstyrann , Trauerkönigstrann and Texaskönigstyrann , whose distribution areas partly overlap with that of this species. It differs from the latter two types, among other things, by the dark tail and the finer beak, from the former by the white outside of the tail. In the slightly larger Cassin King Tyrant, the tail also has a light end border.

behavior

Like other king tyrants ( Tyrannus ), the Arkansas king tyrant is noticeable because of his aggressive enemy defense behavior during the breeding season. Even much larger birds such as the red-tailed buzzards or the great falcon are beaten to flight with claws and bills and sometimes stubbornly pursued in flight. Strong threatening behavior can usually be observed before an attack. This consists of various elements such as a horizontal excitement pose with the head stretched out and the legs bent, demonstrative wing flapping and flapping, as well as exposing the orange spot on the vertex or raising the vertex plumage.

distribution

The Arkansas king tyrant is common in the western part of North America. In the north, the distribution extends through the south of the Canadian provinces of British Columbia , Alberta , Saskatchewan and Manitoba . The eastern border of the area runs through the respective western part of the states of Minnesota , Iowa and Missouri as well as along the eastern border of Oklahoma and Texas . The southern border runs through Mexico , where the species is still found in northwestern Chihuahua , to southern Sonora and north of Baja California . On the west coast, the distribution does not extend all the way to the coast and the cascade chain is only sparsely populated.

Occasional breeding records are available from the states of Ontario , Wisconsin , Illinois , Michigan , Arkansas and Louisiana .

hikes

The Arkansas King Tyrant is a middle-distance migrant who overwinters in southern Mexico and Central America , where winter occurrences are mainly limited to the interior of the country and in the Pacific Cordillera to altitudes below 2000 m. The species occurs regularly in small numbers along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American Atlantic coast. The autumn migration begins between the end of August and September and is completed by November at the latest. The migration back home in Honduras begins in late January and February and continues into April. Winter guests leave southern Mexico from April, and migration can be observed there until May. In the breeding areas the species occurs between April and mid-May, less often until early June (Minnesota).

Arkansas king tyrant on a pasture fence

habitat

The Arkansaskönigstyrann inhabits open landscapes in plains or mountain valleys below 2120 m. It occurs in grasslands, in shrubbery deserts or bush steppes, on pastureland, agricultural and fallow land and in areas close to settlement. It often breeds in marginal habitats between several types of biotope in which there are isolated trees, shrubs or anthropogenic structures. It can often be found in tree-lined river landscapes that are surrounded by open areas such as prairie , semi-desert or cultural landscape.

nutrition

The food of Arkansaskönigstyrannen consists mainly of larger insects such as Hymenoptera , Schnabelkerfen , grasshoppers , butterflies , Diptera , or beetles , but also from other arthropods such as spiders . The relatively small beak size indicates that the species includes more smaller insects in its food spectrum than other royal tyrants. Fruits such as elderberry , hawthorn or mulberry play a very minor role in nutrition.

Like other king tyrants, the Arkansas king tyrant catches a large part of the prey from the air. He usually starts his fishing flights from a control room and then returns to the same or another. Occasionally it comes down from the shaking flight and picks up the prey from the ground, sometimes it is also picked up by plants.

supporting documents

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ K. Kaufman: Western Kingbird identification , Am. Birds Vol. 46 (1992), pp. 323-326, cited in Birds of North America Online (see evidence)

Web links

Commons : Arkansaskönigstyrann  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files