BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Tyrannus verticalis
Western Kingbird
| Scientific Name: | Tyrannus verticalis Say, 1822 | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Western 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-WEKI | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S4S5B (Mar 2022) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | Y | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | See Kaufman (1992, Am. Birds 46:323-326) for information on identification. | ||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Clutch size 3-5 (often 4). Incubation 12-14 days. Nestlings tended by both parents. Two or more pairs may nest in same tree. | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | May drive hawks, crows, and jays away from nest. Foraging range at least 400 meters from nest (Hespenheide 1964). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / N / Y / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | Arrives on nesting grounds in U.S. late March through May (Terres 1980). | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
Agriculture / Cultivated Field / Facultative - frequent use
Agriculture / Orchard/Vineyard / Facultative - occasional use Agriculture / Pasture/Old Field / Facultative - frequent use Anthropogenic / Urban/Suburban / Facultative - frequent use Forest / Conifer Forest - Dry / Facultative - frequent use Forest / Mixed Forest (deciduous/coniferous mix) / Facultative - occasional use Grassland/Shrub / Antelope-brush Steppe / Facultative - occasional use Grassland/Shrub / Grassland / Facultative - occasional use Grassland/Shrub / Sagebrush Steppe / Facultative - frequent use Grassland/Shrub / Shrub - Logged / Facultative - occasional use Grassland/Shrub / Shrub - Natural / Facultative - frequent use |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Open and partly open country, especially savanna, agricultural lands, and areas with scattered trees (AOU 1983), also desert. In western Nebraska, used habitat types have large, widely spaced cottonwood trees with abundant grass cover below (Bergin 1992). BREEDING: Nests in trees (usually out on a limb, sometimes near trunk); may also nest on shrubs, fence posts, or buildings. Nest usually about 4.5-9 m from ground. In Nebraska, nests in larger, taller trees with more available perches (Bergin 1992). | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Invertivore: Adult, Immature
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Primarily insectivorous; feeds on wasps, beetles, moths, caterpillars, grasshoppers, true bugs. Also eats spiders, millipedes, and some fruit. May occasionally take tree frogs (Terres 1980). Catches insects in the air or on the ground. | ||||||||||
| 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): | 22/ / 40 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | BREEDING: southwestern Canada south to northern Baja California and northwestern mainland of Mexico, and west-central Texas, and east to northwestern Ohio, rarely to north-central Missouri. NON-BREEDING: mainly from Mexico south to Costa Rica, and in small numbers in coastal southeastern U.S. | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | HAMMERSON, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Apr 20, 1994 | ||||||||||
| 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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Bergin, T. M. 1992. Habitat selection by the western kingbird in western Nebraska; a hierarchical analyasis. Condor 94:903-911. |
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Bureau of Land Management. Life History Summaries. |
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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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Hagan, J. M., III, and D. W. Johnston, editors. 1992. Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. xiii + 609 pp. |
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Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
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Hespenheide, H. A. 1964. Competition and the Genus Tyrannus. Wilson Bull. 76:265-281. |
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Sauer, J.R., and S. Droege. 1992. Geographical patterns in population trends of Neotropical migrants in North America. Pages 26-42 in J.M. Hagan, III, and D.W. Johnston, editors. Ecology and conservation of Neotropical migrant landbirds. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. |
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Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp. |
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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. 1994. Species Summary: Tyrannus verticalis. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Aug 11, 2025).