Forest and Rangeland Birds of the United States

Natural History and Habitat Use

Couch's Kingbird -- Tyrannus couchii
(split from Tropical Kingbird)


RANGE: Resident from southern Texas north to Webb and Kenedy Counties, south to Central America.

STATUS: Fairly common.

HABITAT: Frequents the borders of woods, chaparral, and trees along lakes, ponds, rivers, and stagnant watercourses, where it inhabits groves of mesquite, ebony blackbead, retaima, granjena, persimmon, and thorny bushes. It also frequents urban areas.

NEST: Nests on a branch or in a fork of a tree 8 to 20 feet above the ground in woodlands and brush, along marshy or brushy margins of lakes or rivers, and in cultivated areas.

FOOD: Frequently perches on tall trees to hawk insects.

REFERENCES: Bent 1942, Harrison 1979, Kaufman in Farrand 1983b, Oberholser 1974a.


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