Tropical Kingbird - Birds of the Guyanas 12

The Tropical Kingbird is one of the most common and conspicuous birds of Suriname. It's a real flycatcher and it catches flying insects from a perch. It can be found in open forest, forest edges, agricultural land, gardens and especially on wires.

The whole day this bird is busy catching flying insects. It flies up from its perch, catches the insect (or not) and lands on the spot where it started. But it will also eat fruit, like the berries from the butterfly bush.

The tropical kingbird is a very brave bird that will chase away other birds like the great kiskadee and it chases after much bigger birds like the yellow-headed caracara (a falcon) and in the next picture a snail kite.

The tropical king bird is widespread and can be found from the southwestern United States to Argentina. It depends on the region when they breed but in Suriname they breed the whole year round. The breeding couples are monogamous and can stay together for several years.

Thank you for visiting my blog and happy birding.

Ps. All photographs were taken with the Canon 5D mark III and the Canon 70-200mm f/4 L IS USM lens.