This bold, aggressive flycatcher breeds in open country across North America. Look for kingbirds in scattered trees along roads and streams, orchards, fencerows and forest clearings. The bird gets its name because it dominates other birds, including many larger than itself, driving them away from its territory. Of all the flycatchers, kingbirds are among the easiest to locate and observe. They are about eight inches long and are dark gray and white, with a white-tipped tail and a small red streak on the head.
Kingbirds feed on beetles, wasps, bees, winged ants, grasshoppers, honeybees and many other insects.
Kingbirds often attack crows, hawks and owls, flying high in the air, getting above the larger birds, and diving at them repeatedly. After mating, the female does not let the male help her build the nest and may actually drive him away until after the eggs hatch. The nest is a bulky cup seven to 30 feet-up in a shrub, tree or snag. The two to five eggs hatch after 16 days. Kingbirds have a very different lifestyle on their wintering range in South America, where they coexist in flocks and switch to a diet of berries.