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Posted by Bruce H. Anderson on 23:11:18 02/24/08
In Reply to: Re: Kingbird Question posted by Andy Kratter
Hi tyrannophiles,
Sorry Andy, while I agree with the field marks that you are evaluating, I have to disagree on your ID and go with Western Kingbird.
Gray color vs. chin/malar color. Western Kingbirds do have a white chin and malar, that because of the paler gray of the throat, are usually less noticeable than those of Cassin's. Light has a great deal to do with the value of the gray on Westerns, and in the late evening at the Lake Apopka roost, all the Westerns become Cassin's wannabes when the low lighting makes the pale gray appear darker accentuating the white chin and malar. However, Cassin's Kingbird is a charcoal gray, so dark that the dark auricular region, typical of kingbirds, is noticeable on Cassin's only at very close range (in the hand).
Below. This charcoal gray extends farther down the breast and onto the sides of Cassin's so that the yellow is restricted mostly to the center of the belly and the flanks/under tail region. The bird in these photos has a rather pale breast and bright yellow belly and sides.
Wings. Although you can see paler tan edges to the upper wing coverts, they are not the contrasting cream-color of Cassin s. Usually these edges on Cassin s are so broad that some of the cream-color is retained on the worn coverts into the breeding season.
Tail. The tail does not appear to have a pale tip (I don t know if could really be seen on this bird given the angle of the tail and the lighting) or extensive white on the outer web of R6 (outer rectrices). As Andy pointed out, Cassin's does have pale edge to the outer web of R6, but not the the entire white outer web as do Westerns. But, as Andy also pointed out, not all of the wing coverts have been molted on this bird; this is indicative of a HY/SY (hatch year/second year) kingbird. Adults molt all of these feathers in the fall, but HY/SY birds have a wing covert molt that is protracted throughout the winter and sprin. And, the tail, as well as most of the primaries and secondaries of HY/SYs usually are not molted until the second prebasic molt during the bird s second fall. Therefore, this bird s tail is likely the one with which it was born and very worn along the edges reducing the amount of white on the outer web.
Yellow-bellied kingbird species (and "Myiarchus":0) can be tricky in-person, and very difficult in photos.
Good birding to all,
Bruce
Bruce H. Anderson
Winter Park, Orange Co., FL
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