Dan's Feathursday Feature: Eastern Kingbird

One of my favorite Japanese expressions is: No aru taka wa tsume wo kakusu. The skillful hawk hides its talons. The Eastern Kingbird has no talons to hide--it's a flycatcher that catches its food on the fly with its mouth. And with a name like Kingbird, it's a bit difficult to hide its royal heritage. But the stalwart Eastern Kingbird embodies that Japanese proverb to a T.

I don't mean to say it's a shy bird. If there is an Eastern Kingbird in the vicinity, you will know soon enough. From its perch in the highest branches of a tree it will suddenly dart out, spin, and flutter in pursuit of a moth or a dragonfly. All the while, it rattles off a string of high-pitched twitters that sound like a whole flock of Chimney Swifts. Unobtrusive it is not.

It is also not the only kingbird in the North American skies. It is one of nine species in the genus Tyrannus, meaning monarch or king. All are larger than the Eastern Kingbird. Several of them have striking yellow bellies, one has a crest, and one has a long scissor-tail that draws attention wherever it goes. All in all, the Eastern Kingbird's garments are probably the most simple of all the princes in the royal stable.

But when you look at the territory the Eastern Kingbird rules, it's clear this bird is made for greatness. Its reign extends from Banff to Boston, Miami to Montreal--overlapping the much smaller territories of its eight cousins. Its nearest rival is the Western Kingbird, but while the Eastern Kingbird roams freely over all of the Western Kingbird's territory except the far southwest US, the Western Kingbird hardly ever ventures further east than the Mississippi. And when it does, it's probably by special invitation.

So while the other Tyrannus flycatchers are flashing their long tail feathers, or showing off their colorful bellies, the Eastern Kingbird rules the roost. And would it surprise you to learn that the Eastern Kingbird actually bears a crown to match its stature? Under those plain gray head feathers, every Eastern Kingbird--female and male--has a striking ruby-gold crown. So quietly confident is it in its ability and its stature, that only rarely will the Eastern Kingbird reveal this sign of its royalty.

That is why to the Tyrannus flycatcher with the long tail taxonomists gave the name Tyrannus forficatus. The Western Kingbird they called Tyrannus verticalis, and the Cassin's Kingbird earned the name Tyrannus vociferans. Only the Eastern Kingbird, with its hidden crown, received the title all others strive for: Tyrannus tyrannus, King of Kings.

Dan's Feathursday Feature is a regular contribution to the COS blog featuring the thoughts, insights and pictures of Chicago birder, Dan Lory on birds of the Chicago region.