Western Kingbird
(Tyrannus verticalis)

Overview

Summary

© Tony Battiste
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

The Western Kingbird breeds in western Canada from southern British Columbia to southern Manitoba and occasionally in northwestern Ontario. Breeding Bird Survey data show little change in numbers in Canada relative to about 1970. Currently, there are no known conservation concerns for the species.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1993-2012)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

This species has benefitted from human activity, as its range expanded considerably with tree-planting and settlement in the prairies and forest-clearing in the eastern part of its range (Gamble and Bergin 2012).

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Gamble, L.R. and T.M. Bergin. 2012. Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Gamble, L.R. and T.M. Bergin. 2012. Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)