Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis)


Group	Flycatchers
Code	ABPAE52050
Order	Passeriformes
Family	Tyrannidae
Author	Say, 1823
Rank	G5 (definitions)
Occurrence	LM (definitions)
Scale	N (definitions)

County List:


Western UP	Baraga
Eastern UP	none
Northern LP	Isabella
Southern LP	Ottawa

Rule:

Nonforested Landscapes

      Fields/Pasture
   containing:
      (Perches or Man-made Structures)

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Habitat List:

Habitats	Regen	Sap	Pole	Sm Saw	Lg Saw	Uneven
Aspen	no	no	no	no	no	-
Paper Birch	no	no	no	no	no	-
Oak	no	no	no	no	no	no
Assorted Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Northern Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Spruce/Fir	no	no	no	no	no	no
Hemlock	no	no	no	no	no	no
Jack Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
Red Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
White Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
Conifer Plantations	no	no	no	no	no	-
Mixed Upland Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Northern Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Upland Conifer	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Pine	no	no	no	no	no	no
Swamp Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Balsam Poplar & Swamp Aspen & Swamp Birch	no	no	no	no	no	no
Bottomland Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Tamarack	no	no	no	no	no	no
Northern White Cedar	no	no	no	no	no	no
Black Spruce	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Lowland Hardwoods	no	no	no	no	no	no
Mixed Lowland Conifer	no	no	no	no	no	no
Non-Forested	Fields/Pastures
Special Features	Man-made Structures, Perches

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Literature:

Reinoehl, J. 1991. Western Kingbird. Pages 294-295 In: R. Brewer, G. A. McPeek, and R. J. Adams, Jr. (eds.) The atlas of breeding birds of Michigan. Michigan State University Press, East Lansing. 594 pp.

Habitat: The Western Kingbird is one of the typical birds of the dry open areas of the western U.S. In Isabella Co., the breeding individual was in a rural agricultural area, inhabiting a grove of trees near a farmhouse surrounded by cropland.

Kaufman, K. 1996. Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 675 pp.

Habitat: Semi-open country, farms, roadsides, towns. Breeds in open terrain with trees to provide nest sites; may be in farmland, groves or streamside trees in prairie country, semi-desert shrub; avoids true desert. Also in towns; where trees are lacking, will nest on artificial structures. Where ranges overlap typically in more open country than Eastern or Cassin's Kingbirds.

Diet: Mostly insects. Feeds on a wide variety of insects, especially wasps, bees, beetles, and grasshoppers, also flies, true bugs, caterpillars, moths, and many others. Also eats some spiders and millipedes, and regularly eats small numbers of berries and fruits.

Nest: Site varies, usually in tree in vertical fork or on horizontal limb, 15-30 feet above ground. Also often nests on utility poles, sometimes on buildings ledges or towers, in empty sheds, on cliff ledges, or in abandoned nests of other birds. Nest is a cup of grass, weeds, twigs, plant fibers, lined with finer materials such as feathers, plant down, animal hair, bits of paper.