Meet the regal western kingbird — a fierce defender of its nest and a bright sight along open fields in the west.
How to Identify a Western Kingbird
Published on Mar. 20, 2025
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What Does a Western Kingbird Look Like?
If you’ve spotted a western kingbird, your first thought will likely be about the bird’s beauty — they look truly regal. With a pale gray head, back, and chest, they exhibit a pop of striking color with their yellow belly. In flight, the gray-black tail shows white outer edges. The bird is about the size of a robin, although slightly smaller.
Birds & Blooms reader Tina Ullery of Francis, Oklahoma captured a photo of this bird (above) and wrote in to ask our experts for help identifying it. “We briefly saw this bird at our church in Norman, Oklahoma. What is it?” Tina asks.
Birding experts Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman say, “This is a western kingbird and a member of the flycatcher family. It’s widespread in Oklahoma, especially in the western half of the state. Western kingbirds are fairly common around Norman during the late spring and summer, but they may go unnoticed at times because they usually perch high on power lines or in treetops.
Kingbirds earned their name because they’re fearless in defense of their nests, often chasing away much larger birds, like crows and hawks. Incidentally, the western kingbird was Kenn’s favorite bird when he was a boy in Kansas, and it eventually found its way into the title of his memoir, Kingbird Highway.”
Range and Habitat
If you live in the western half of the United States, you’ll likely be able to spot a western kingbird during breeding season. Spending most of their time in open areas, they prefer grasslands, savannah, pastures, and even urban land.
Similar Species
In the eastern half of the country, birders can spot the eastern kingbird — however, with its black back and white breast, this bird doesn’t resemble its western relative.
Western kingbirds do, on the other hand, look like great crested flycatchers. The great crested flycatcher predominantly resides in the eastern United States, and birders can distinguish it from a western kingbird by looking for a paler yellow belly and cinnamon coloring at the crest of the bird’s head.
What Do Western Flycatchers Eat?
As a flycatcher, the western kingbird overwhelmingly eats insects and isn’t likely to visit feeders. They swoop through the air to catch bees, wasps, moths, beetles, grasshoppers, and even caterpillars. When food is scarce, they might eat certain fruits such as elderberry and hawthorn.
Western Flycatcher Nests
Western kingbirds nest in shrubs and in the forks of trees; nests are constructed from grass, twigs, bark, or cotton. Clutch sizes vary, having as few as two eggs and as many as seven. Eggs are white or pinkish with darker spots. Brood numbers also vary, as western kingbirds can have one or two broods in a season.
Kingbirds fiercely defend their nests. Although they’re small in comparison, they fight back ferociously against hawks, ravens, and anything they deem a threat.
Learn how to identify a phainopepla bird.
Calls and Sounds
Not songbirds, western kingbirds give a harsh kip or kit chatter when danger is near. One noise resembles a song, a series of short, rising notes typically sung at dawn.
Bird sounds courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Sources
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “Western Kingbird: Life History“
- National Audubon Society, “Western Kingbird: Field Guide“
About the Experts
Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman are the official bird experts for Birds & Blooms. They are the creators of the Kaufman Field Guide series and they lead birding trips all over the world.
