Now that there is a lull in rare bird reports, perhaps there is room for reflecting on my good fortune with the genus Tyrannus in the last few months. All flycatchers in North America are Tyrannidae but only the kingbirds are in the genus Tyrannus. Micki and I and many of you enjoyed the exciting Tyrannus savana (Fork-tailed Flycatcher) about Oct 22 at Prince Lake #2 in Boulder County (didn't know it was a Tyrannus until then). Then there was the Tyrannus melancholicus (Tropical Kingbird) near the S. Platte Reservoir about Oct 5. For me personally Cassins' Kingbird (T. vociferans) was a new yard bird (#102) on Sep 21, and the original tyrant T. Tyrannus (Eastern Kingbird) was a new yardbird (#101) on Aug 20. Just lacking Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (T. forficatus).
I assume from the CFO state list that the Fork-tailed will be Colorado #503? Tyrannus trivia from Sibley (I) on pages 334 and 335: "Each Tyrannus species builds a stick nest in the outer branches of a tree." "All species in the genus Tyrannus have an orange or red median crown-stripe usually concealed by the dark crown feathers; the stripe is brightest in adult male and exposed only during displays." Didn't know either trivium! They are "tyrants" who do not tolerate other species (especially larger species like crows) but I did see an Eastern and a Western Kingbird peacefully co-existing in the same bush at Flagler Wildlife Area last May.
Farewell all Tyrannidae until next spring. Maybe I can add Couch's Kingbird to my ABA list one of these years!
Bob Shade
Lakewood
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAFwvYHou7PMgohkA811hHco-QBLQP9N0yJmjVm-WiUznZPxksA%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
No comments:
Post a Comment