Cassin's Kingbird, Tyrannus vociferans
Cassin's Kingbirds nest in various outlying parts of the SF Bay Area, which is at the northern edge of their regular breeding
range. They are distinguished from Western Kingbirds by two features best seen in the picture below: a stronger contrast
between a narrow white throat patch and a darker gray breast; and light colored tips to the tail feathers. (Westerns have
the black of the tail all the way to the end, and have white outer tail feathers.) Tropical Kingbirds, which are relatively rare
visitors here in winter, have much longer bills.
The bird pictured above, and the one at the bottom of the page, were photographed
at La Paz, near the southern end of Baja California in Mexico, where Cassin's
Kingbirds are common.
