Giant kingbird

The giant kingbird (Tyrannus cubensis) is a species of bird in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae. It is endemic to Cuba, although there are historical records of it on other islands. The species is probably mostly closely related to the loggerhead kingbird, which also occurs in Cuba as well as several other nearby Caribbean islands.[2]

Giant kingbird
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Tyrannidae
Genus: Tyrannus
Species:
T. cubensis
Binomial name
Tyrannus cubensis
Richmond, 1898

While this species has been reported in the past to average only 23 cm (9 in) long,[3] this may be excessively conservative with the overall length being 23 to 26 cm (9.1 to 10.2 in).[4] Although it is not the largest tyrant flycatcher, its body mass was reported is significantly higher than the next largest known kingbird, the thick-billed kingbird, with an average of 93.6 g (3.30 oz), sometimes scaling up to 108 g (3.8 oz), meaning it can be nearly as heavy as the largest tyrant flycatcher, the great shrike tyrant.[5] The giant kingbird is found in tall lowland forest. In particular it favours pine forests and the wooded borders of waterways. It is also found in mixed pine barrens, open woodlands, swamps and savanna. It has also been seen in cloud forest.[2]

It is threatened by habitat loss.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2020). "Tyrannus cubensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22700516A179476365. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22700516A179476365.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Mobley, Jason A. (2004), "Family Tyrannidae (tyrant flycatchers)", in del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Christie, David (eds.), Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 9, Cotingas to Pipits and Wagtails, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 424, ISBN 84-87334-69-5
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2011-02-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Mobley, J. A. and C. J. Sharpe (2020). Giant Kingbird (Tyrannus cubensis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA.
  5. Dunning, John B. Jr., ed. (2008). CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses (2nd ed.). CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4200-6444-5.

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