Loggerhead Kingbird Tyrannus caudifasciatus Scientific name definitions

Some seven subspecies of the Loggerhead Kingbird are generally recognized, of which two were recently recommended as being better treated as separate species, namely T. c. taylori of Puerto Rico, and T. c. gabbii of Hispaniola. The same study recommended that T. c. flavescens of the Isle of Youth is better considered synonymous with the nominate subspecies described from the main island of Cuba. The Loggerhead Kingbird is a West Indian endemic, which is widespread in forested habitats of the Greater Antilles, the Bahamas, and the Caymans, and is generally considered to be resident, although it has been recorded as a vagrant in Florida. Despite the species’ general abundance and its conspicuousness, this kingbird has only recently been subject to an intensive study of its biology and behavior.

23–26 cm; 41·3–49·5 g (bahamensis) (1 Steadman, D.W., Olson, S.L., Barber, J.C., Meister, C.A. and Melvill, M.E. (1980). Weights of some West Indian birds. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 100(2): 155–158. Close ), 35–48 g (nominate) (2 Olson, S. L. (1985). Weights of some Cuban birds. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 105(2):68–69. Close , 3 Jiménez, A., I. García-Lau, A. González, L. Mugica, and M. Acosta (2014) Valores de masa corporal de 183 especies de aves cubanas. Revista Cubana de Ciencias Biológicas 3:22–42. Close ), 34·5–52 g (caymanensis) (4 Olson, S. L., H. F. James, and C. A. Meister (1981). Winter field notes and specimen weights of Cayman Island birds. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 101(3):339–346. Close ). Has blackish head, yellow or pale orange semi-concealed coronal patch; upperparts mostly dark grey, some olive wash on back; wings mostly dark grey, prominent whitish margins on wing-coverts; tail blunt-ended, dark grey, buff-white terminal tips on rectrices; mostly white below, yellow wash on belly and crissum, yellow wash on axillaries; iris dark; bill long and fairly thick, black; legs black. Distinguished from T. cubensis mainly by proportionately smaller bill, more conspicuous whitish tail tips, more contrasting head and back. Sexes similar. Juvenile resembles adult, but with brownish wingbars, no crown patch. Races all very similar, differing mainly in amount of yellow wash in plumage, and pattern of tail tip.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Forests, mangroves and swamp edges; also open lowland scrub in Cuba. In the Bahamas Is, Cuba, Jamaica, and Cayman Is, it expands its habitat to include gardens, settled areas and open forests in Nov–Mar, the period when the Grey Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis) migrates off those islands (7 Wiley, J.W., Garrido, O.H. and Kirkconnell, A. (2010). Natural history notes on the Loggerhead Kingbird (Tyrannnus caudifasciatus). J. Carib. Orn.. 23: 19–30. Close ).

Food, berries and seeds as well as animal matter, including invertebrates and small vertebrates, mostly small lizards; food brought to nestlings has a higher proportion of animal items (57∙4%) than that consumed by adults (43∙8%). It forages by sallying from low- to medium-elevation perches to capture animals usually by plucking them off the ground of from a leaf or twig, although it also snatches flying insects in mid-air; sometimes forages in a manner similar to woodpeckers, perching vertically on a trunk and probing for insects in small holes in the bark (7 Wiley, J.W., Garrido, O.H. and Kirkconnell, A. (2010). Natural history notes on the Loggerhead Kingbird (Tyrannnus caudifasciatus). J. Carib. Orn.. 23: 19–30. Close ).

Mainly Feb–Jul (8 Raffaele, H. A., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele (1998). A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ), also occasionally Nov–Jan; Apr–Jul in Cuba. Nest cup-shaped, composed of twigs, rootlets and sometimes hair, no lining, usually placed in fork of horizontal branch, in a wide variety of trees, 2–14 m above the ground (4∙6 m on average, n = 80) (7 Wiley, J.W., Garrido, O.H. and Kirkconnell, A. (2010). Natural history notes on the Loggerhead Kingbird (Tyrannnus caudifasciatus). J. Carib. Orn.. 23: 19–30. Close ). Clutch 2–4 eggs (3∙1 on average, n = 68); eggs variably whitish or salmon-coloured, with reddish-brown, brown, violet or grey markings at the broad end, being lightest-coloured in Cuba and darkest-coloured in Hispaniola; size also variable between islands, from 24 mm × 18∙1 mm on average (n = 15) in the Dominican Republic to 26 mm × 19∙6 mm on average (n = 6) in the Bahamas (7 Wiley, J.W., Garrido, O.H. and Kirkconnell, A. (2010). Natural history notes on the Loggerhead Kingbird (Tyrannnus caudifasciatus). J. Carib. Orn.. 23: 19–30. Close ). In a study in Puerto Rico c. 58% of nests successful (7 Wiley, J.W., Garrido, O.H. and Kirkconnell, A. (2010). Natural history notes on the Loggerhead Kingbird (Tyrannnus caudifasciatus). J. Carib. Orn.. 23: 19–30. Close ).

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Common and widespread within range. Apparently absent from Little Cayman I in recent years. Occurs in several national parks and other protected areas, e.g. La Güira National Park, in Cuba.