Kingbirds are compact, powerfully built flycatchers with a heavy, straight bill, smallish head, and moderately long wings and tail.
Perches conspicuously high on branches or wires in open environments. Flies out to catch aerial insects. Also picks insects from the ground or from vegetation.
Cassin's Kingbird - an assertive bird of dry open country, the gray and lemon-yellow Cassin's Kingbird hunts flying insects from high perches. The bird’s scientific name translates to “vociferous tyrant,” and it fits this loud, aggressive songbird well.
In 1826, naturalist William Swainson was the first to describe Cassin’s Kingbird to science, from a specimen collected in Mexico. Twenty-four years later, George Lawrence gave the bird its current English name, in honor of his friend John Cassin, a prominent Philadelphia ornithologist. As with many birds of the American Southwest, Cassin’s Kingbirds are summer residents in the United States that migrate to Mexico for the winter. The species also has a large population in Mexico that does not migrate, a pattern known as “partial migration.” Other species that do this include the Rose-throated Becard, Mexican Whip-poor-will, Elegant Trogon, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, and Violet-crowned Hummingbird.
Cassin’s Kingbirds often sing at night, and are sometimes mistaken for nightjars and other night birds. The ranges of Cassin’s and Western Kingbirds overlap geographically and partially in elevation. Competition for nest sites and foraging habitat appears to be minimal between the two species. Cassin's Kingbird nest success is higher, however, when Western Kingbirds are absent.
The Cassin's Kingbird is the most likely seen in southern California, however, you can sometimes see other species.
Kingbirds generally stay up high in the treetops, although they will sometimes forage for berries of native plants such as Coffeeberry Bushes.
