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The other day I posted an image of a White-winged Dove and commented about how I saw its arrival in our neighborhood as a sign of impending summer. Today, I’m posting an image of another harbinger of hot weather. This is a Western Kingbird, a bird that I photographed just a couple of days ago.
Kingbirds (there are several species of them including Western Kingbirds) are flycatchers and are seasonal residents of southern Arizona. The Western Kingbird shows up in our farmlands and grasslands every year around the middle or latter part of April. I can almost guarantee days with high temperatures in the 90s (above 32 degrees celsius) will coincide with the arrival of this species.
It is a graceful, highly energetic bird that specializes in catching flying insects. It has a streamlined body and relatively long and tapered wings that are a bit like those of swallows, another class of birds that capture insects on the wing. Its most striking characteristic is its lemon-yellow abdomen.
I’m always excited to see and photograph my first Western Kingbird of the year. I’ll certainly have numerous encounters with this species between now and September. My hope is that I’ll also have the opportunity to photograph other kingbird species as well.
Image made with a Canon R5, Canon EF 400mm f4 DO II lens+Canon EF 1.4x telextender, M setting (auto ISO), ISO 1600, f5.6 @ 1/4000.
Sonoran Images 