King tyrant
| King tyrant | ||||||||||||
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A royal tyrant |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Tyrannus tyrannus | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The king's tyrant ( Tyrannus tyrannus ) is an approx. 20 cm tall and very aggressive species of bird from the family of tyrants (Tyrannidae).
features
The royal tyrant is one of the greatest tyrants with a length of 20-23 cm. Its head and top are black. The throat and tail end are white, while the chest is white-gray in color. When it ruffles its crown feathers, the red, elongated spot becomes visible. Dark, thick hair can be seen at the base of the broad and flat beak.
distribution
The royal tyrant lives in the wooded areas , prairies and also in the gardens and parks of large cities across the breadth of the North American continent from southern Canada to Florida . In the southwest, its habitat extends to Texas and New Mexico . In autumn, it moves in large swarms to southern Mexico and northwestern South America to overwinter there. In the wintering areas the birds are very peaceful and live in communities of several thousand birds.
Way of life
The royal tyrant does not bear his name for nothing. Even the Indians call him “Little Chief” because of his aggressiveness and courage . It even attacks much larger birds of prey and drives ravens to flight with claws and bills, but paradoxically it leaves swallows in peace even in their breeding grounds. You can often see him sitting on barbed wire fences .
Reproduction
The breeding season of the royal tyrant begins in the spring immediately after returning from the wintering areas. The males fiercely fight for control of the territories. As soon as a territory owner has found a suitable female, he mates on the fly for his desired partner and sets up his crown feathers.
The nest is built by both partners, usually on a branch. To do this, they process twigs, leaves, grass and bark. The male lays the hollow with feathers and soft grass before the female lays 3–4 white or pink eggs with dark red or brown spots. The incubation period is 16–20 days; the nestling duration another 14-21 days.
food
The diet of the royal tyrant consists mainly of insects such as flies , grasshoppers or crickets , but also spiders and bees . They are apparently immune to bee stings. They also eat fruit, especially in autumn. Their main prey, insects, are spotted from the raised hide and caught in a flash.
Web links
- Tyrannus tyrannus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 30 of 2009.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings of Tyrannus tyrannus in the Internet Bird Collection