BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Tyrannus crassirostris
Thick-billed Kingbird
| Scientific Name: | Tyrannus crassirostris Swainson, 1826 | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Thick-billed Kingbird | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | B-TBKI | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Dec 1996) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | SNA (Apr 2024) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Accidental | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 8 - Accidental (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | Y | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Clutch size 3-4. | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
Y / Y / Y / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | Breeding populations in U.S. and northern Mexico move south for winter; found year-round throughout most of range. | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Arid scrub, savanna, riparian woodland, clearings in deciduous forest, and open situations with scattered trees (Tropical and lower Subtropical zones) (AOU 1983). BREEDING: Apparently nests in trees. Two nests found in 1959 were located in sycamores, 15-18 m above ground (Terres 1980). | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Invertivore: Adult, Immature
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Probably very similar to other kingbirds that feed on a wide variety of insects and small fruits. | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 24/ / 56 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | BREEDING: southeastern Arizona (common in Guadalupe Canyon, uncommon elsewhere in southeastern Arizona), extreme southwestern New Mexico, Sonora, southwestern Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and western Durango south to Guerrero, state of Mexico, Morelos, southern Puebla, and western Oaxaca. NON-BREEDING: northwestern Mexico south through breeding range to southwestern Mexico, casually to western Guatemala (AOU 1983). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | HAMMERSON, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Aug 01, 1988 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp. |
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, J.M. Cooper, G.W. Kaiser, M.C.E. McNall and G.E.J. Smith 1997. The Birds of British Columbia, Vol. 3, Passerines: Flycatchers through Vireos. UBC Press in cooperation with Environ. Can., Can. Wildl. Serv. and B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. 700pp. |
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National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, DC. |
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Phillips, A., J. Marshall, and G. Monson. 1964. The birds of Arizona. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ. |
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Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1988. Species Summary: Tyrannus crassirostris. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Oct 3, 2026).