13 August 2004

A juvenile eastern kingbird

Denise Greaves, Ph.D.

About 4:45 PM on Saturday, July 31, 2004, as Sheldon and I were wandering through the bushes around Browning Mill Pond near the Exeter/Richmond border in RI, I came face to face with a juvenile Tyrannus Tyrannus, a.k.a., Eastern Kingbird. True to its fearless reputation, the young bird stood its ground undaunted as I cautiously yet repeatedly snapped the shutter of my antiquated SLR camera. For about the next half hour, this charming bird preened itself, chirped occasionally, and looked me over as I did my best to capture it on film so I could remember and share this unusual encounter. At length, the young Kingbird decided it was time to move on.

The Eastern Kingbird is an insectivore whose breeding range includes most of North America and who winters in Amazonia.