Gray Kingbird

For 2016 the last new member on the birdlist: the Gray Kingbird.

It was a short stay for this flycatcher. It stayed for merely 8 days, most of the time near the airstrip. The first time it was visible, was on November 25, 2016. At first glance it looked like our resident, the Tropical Kingbird, but a closer look revealed that it lacked the extra color. Mostly grey and white. 

The Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis) is with its length of 22 cm considered as a large flycatcher. With a black stripe across its eyes it looked like it was wearing a mask, trying not to reveal its true identity. But that was just for the show as it didn't bother to stay under the radar. It didn't hide at all, but stayed in plain sight (on a post or in a tree with not much cover)

One thing that was missing on this bird was its forked tail. It was most of the time without a tail, which was not a problem at all for this bird while it was busy sallying and catching flying insects in mid air. 

Here you can clearly see the black mask, white chin and gray appearance. It is said that the Gray Kingbird is a northern migrant bird arriving in September till April. This one was spotted on November 25, 2016 staying over for a couple of days. 

I guess the airstrip is a welcoming sign for migrant birds to stop and rest a while before continuing with their long journey.

You may also like the following posts:

migrant birds

todd's sirystes