GREAT KISKADEE
(Pitangus sulphuratus)
eBird offers this description of the Great Kiskadee: Large, boldly marked, and boisterous. Rather stocky with large head and short tail. Found in shrubby woodlands, often near clearings or bodies of water. Prefers conspicuous perches. Bright with yellow belly and orange-brown wings and tail. Listen for loud “kis-ka-dee” calls. Feeds on a variety of animals and plants, including fish, insects, lizards, and fruit. All About Birds describes the Great Kiskadee like this: Great Kiskadees are a treat for bird watchers who visit south Texas—and the birds won’t keep you waiting. They’re boisterous in both attitude and color: a black bandit’s mask, a yellow belly, and flashes of warm reddish-brown when they fly. Kiskadees sit out in the open and attract attention with incessant kis-ka-dee calls and sallying flights. Despite their small U.S. range, this is one of the most widespread flycatchers in the Western Hemisphere.
I saw my first Great Kiskadees at the Edinburg Scenic Wetlands World Birding Site on the late afternoon of June 21, 2020. I saw my first one near the main entrance to the trail that loops around the lake. I spotted a pair of Great Kiskadees along that same trail and was able to watch them for quite some time. On the afternoon of June 23, 2020, I saw several Great Kiskadees on my visit to the Harlingen Arroyo Colorado World Birding site, located at Hugh Ramsey Park. I watched a couple of these birds near the Grebe Pond on the Retama Trail. I found a very cooperative single Great Kiskadee near the Owl Pond and was able to watch him for quite a period of time. What great birds these are to watch!
“Cool Facts” About The Great Kiskadee From All About Birds…
- The Great Kiskadee (so named for its three-syllable call) is one of the largest and most boisterous members of the tyrant flycatcher family. It has a big square head and stocky body like a kingfisher, and an omnivorous diet and bold behavior like a jay. They often eat small fish and snails.
- The kiskadee’s bold behavior and mix of foraging styles gave early naturalists fits in trying to classify it. In 1766, Linnaeus started things off by calling it a kind of shrike. In 1920, the naturalist William Henry Hudson wrote that the bird “seems to have studied to advantage the various habits of the Kestrel, Flycatcher, Kingfisher, Vulture, and fruit-eating Thrush; and when its weapons prove weak it supplements them with its cunning.”
- Great Kiskadees are aggressive. They will boldly chase larger animals that attempt to raid their nests, such as monkeys, raptors, and snakes.
- The Great Kiskadee has a black mask that works like the eye-black that athletes smear beneath their eyes—an adaptation to reduce glare and assist them in hunting in bright light or where light reflects off water.
- For U.S. birders, Great Kiskadees belong to a suite of South Texas specialties, along with Green Jays and Altamira Orioles—birds with mostly tropical ranges that extend just north of the Texas border. South of the border, Great Kiskadees are common species through Central and South America.
- The oldest recorded Great Kiskadee lived in Texas, and was male, at least 6 years, 11 months old.
