December’s Bird of the Month is the Eastern Kingbird, and here is the article in the upcoming December 2018 Kite written by Clive and Celecia Pinnock.

December Bird of the Month – Eastern Kingbird

Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)
by Clive and Celecia Pinnock

The Eastern Kingbird is a member of the “tyrant” flycatcher family. They are called “tyrant” because of their aggressive response (mobbing) towards other species they consider threats in their territories. The targets of their attacks include others of their own species, crows, hawks, kestrels, snakes and squirrels. They have even been known to knock unsuspecting Blue Jays out of trees.

Eastern Kingbirds are a medium-sized flycatcher with a black head, slate gray back, and a black tail with a broad white terminal band. The bird’s underparts are white with a pale gray wash across its breast. It also has an orange-red crown patch, which is seldom seen, except occasionally during courtship displays or when the bird is in an excited state, for example, chasing potential predators from its territory.

It is the most wide-spread of the kingbirds throughout North America and inhabits a wide variety of habitats, including open areas such as woodland clearings, roadsides, farmlands and orchards, grasslands with scattered trees and bushes, and openings near water (marshes and ponds). As their family name implies, these birds feed primarily on flying insects, which they typically spot from perches in a tree or on a fence post or wire. Once their prey is spotted, they fly out to catch it in mid-air or pluck it from foliage while hovering.

The bulk of their summer (nesting) diet is made up of insects and, to a much lesser degree, available berries and fruit. This diet strategy is drastically switched, however, on their wintering grounds at South American forest edges, where berries and fruit become the staple and where the birds forage in small flocks instead of singly or in pairs as they do on their nesting grounds in North America.

Photographers – please note that next month’s January bird of the month is the Northern Mockingbird.

Please check out the picture by John Sutton in the December KITE cover and to see the slide show of the entire virtual gallery this month, along with photographer etc  — click on BOM SLIDE SHOW below the pictures displayed here:

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BOM SLIDE SHOW – December 2018 Bird of the Month – Eastern Kingbird