Bird
Eastern Kingbird
Tyrannus tyrannus
A summer resident that nests in Virginia. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 29 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 29
At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 29
- Habitat models
- Summer
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 29
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 29
Granite and other acidic rock outcrops
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Streams, rivers and their banks
Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Depression ponds and limesinks
Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone
Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.
Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.
High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.
Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.
Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.
Steep, sun-baked slopes of loose shale with sparse oaks and Virginia pine and their own endemic wildflowers. Linked only where the source names shale barrens; calcareous shale stays with the limestone glades.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits
Salt and brackish open water of sounds, bays and estuaries, with the mud and sand flats and seagrass beds that tides cover and uncover; the vegetated marsh is salt and brackish marshes.
Other habitats in its models (183)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia. Those recorded in Virginia first, the rest by region.
In Virginia 3
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Appalachian Circumneutral Cliff and Talus Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Summer.
Elsewhere in the South (99)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Summer.
- Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Summer.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer.
- Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Summer.
- Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Summer.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Cumberland Riverscour Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Dry Chalk Bluff Summer, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer.
- Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Summer.
- Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Summer.
- Florida Dry Prairie Summer.
- Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Summer.
- Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Summer.
- Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Summer.
- Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer.
- Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Summer.
- Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer.
- Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Summer.
- Northern Crowley's Ridge Sand Forest Summer.
- Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer.
- South Florida Bayhead Swamp Summer.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Summer.
- South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Summer.
- South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Summer.
- South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Summer.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer.
- South Florida Pine Rockland Summer.
- South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Summer.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer.
- Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer.
- Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer.
- Southern Appalachian Granitic Dome Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Blackland Tallgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer.
- Southern Crowley's Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Summer.
- Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Tamaulipan Calcareous Thornscrub Summer.
- Tamaulipan Mixed Deciduous Thornscrub Summer.
- Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Summer, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nepheline Syenite Glade Summer, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
- Western Great Plains Mesquite Woodland and Shrubland Summer.
Northeast (3)
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Pine Barrens Summer.
Midwest (12)
- Central Interior Acidic Cliff and Talus Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Interior Calcareous Cliff and Talus Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Mixedgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Tallgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer.
- North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer.
- North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Summer.
- North-Central Interior Sand and Gravel Tallgrass Prairie Summer, beside its main habitat.
- North-Central Oak Barrens Summer.
- Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Summer.
Land cover and other classes (66)
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer.
- Arkansas Valley Prairie and Woodland Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
- Barren Land Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer.
- Developed, Medium Intensity Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Summer.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
- Eastern Great Plains Wet Meadow, Prairie, and Marsh Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Summer.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
- Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Summer.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Summer.
- Introduced Upland Vegetation - Treed Summer.
- Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
- Modified/Managed Southern Tall Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Recently Burned Forest Summer.
- Recently Burned Grassland Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Recently Burned Shrubland Summer.
- Recently Logged Areas Summer.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer.
- Tamaulipan Mesquite Upland Scrub Summer.
- Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Summer, beside its main habitat.
- Western Great Plains Depressional Wetland Systems Summer.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer.
Seasons in Virginia
- Summer: nests here, in all 133 counties and cities.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 119
- American PlumPrunus americana
- Canada PlumPrunus nigra
- Chickasaw PlumPrunus angustifolia
- ChokecherryPrunus virginiana var. virginiana
- Fire CherryPrunus pensylvanica
- Beach PlumPrunus maritima
- Susquehanna CherryPrunus susquehanae
- Red GrapeVitis palmata
- Sand GrapeVitis rupestris
- Vitis cinerea var. baileyanaVitis cinerea var. baileyana
- Vitis cinerea var. floridanaVitis cinerea var. floridana
- Fox GrapeVitis labrusca
- Frost GrapeVitis vulpina
- Riverbank GrapeVitis riparia
- Silver Leaf GrapeVitis aestivalis var. bicolor
- Summer GrapeVitis aestivalis
- Common ElderberrySambucus canadensis
- Red ElderberrySambucus racemosa var. pubens
- Redroot AmaranthAmaranthus retroflexus
- Saltmarsh Water-hempAmaranthus cannabinus
- Seabeach AmaranthAmaranthus pumilus
- Smooth PigweedAmaranthus hybridus
- Canadian ServiceberryAmelanchier canadensis
- Allegheny ServiceberryAmelanchier laevis
Plant genera in its diet records (27)
- Cornus Fruit. 5 diet records. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Prunus Fruit. 4 diet records. 7 native plants in Virginia
- Vitis Fruit. 3 diet records. 9 native plants in Virginia
- Sambucus Fruit. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Virginia
- Amaranthus Seeds. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in Virginia
- Amelanchier Fruit. 1 diet record. 7 native plants in Virginia
- Aronia Fruit. 1 diet record. 3 native plants in Virginia
- Condalia Fruit. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Ficus Fruit. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Fragaria Fruit. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Virginia
- Gaylussacia Fruit. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in Virginia
- Juniperus Fruit. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Virginia
- Lindera Fruit. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Virginia
- Morella Fruit. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in Virginia
- Morus Fruit. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Virginia
- Parthenocissus Fruit. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Virginia
- Phytolacca Fruit. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Virginia
- Rhamnus Fruit. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Rhus Fruit. 1 diet record. 6 native plants in Virginia
- Rhynchospora Seeds. 1 diet record. 30 native plants in Virginia
- Ribes Fruit. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in Virginia
- Rubus Fruit. 1 diet record. 9 native plants in Virginia
- Sassafras Fruit. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Virginia
- Setaria Seeds. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Virginia
- Solanum Fruit. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Virginia
- Taraxacum Seeds. 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Vaccinium Fruit. 1 diet record. 16 native plants in Virginia
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Virginia, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Eastern Kingbird uses many habitats in Virginia; these are its 3 most characteristic.
Dry forests and woodlands
Birds 69
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
- White-winged CrossbillLoxia leucoptera
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Prairie WarblerDendroica discolor
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
Plants 230
- American ChestnutCastanea dentata
- Eastern Winged SumacRhus copallinum var. latifolia
- Godfrey's ThoroughwortEupatorium godfreyanum
- White ThoroughwortEupatorium album
- Sessileleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium sessilifolium
- Leavenworth's SedgeCarex leavenworthii
- Southern Whitetinge SedgeCarex albicans var. australis
- Southern LoosestrifeSteironema tonsum
- Carolina LilyLilium michauxii
- Tall BellflowerCampanulastrum americanum
- Bigleaf SnowbellStyrax grandifolius
- Delicate Rabbit-tobaccoPseudognaphalium micradenium
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 87
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Snowy OwlBubo scandiacus
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- GadwallAnas strepera
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
- Least BitternIxobrychus exilis
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
Plants 381
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Appalachian Orange ConeflowerRudbeckia fulgida var. umbrosa
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Southern Shagbark HickoryCarya carolinae-septentrionalis
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Common Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Virginia Cup-plantSilphium connatum
- Coville's PhaceliaPhacelia covillei
Swamps
Birds 83
- Gull-billed TernGelochelidon nilotica
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Eurasian WigeonAnas penelope
- King RailRallus elegans
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- RedheadAythya americana
- Tricolored HeronEgretta tricolor
- Black RailLaterallus jamaicensis
- Red-breasted MerganserMergus serrator
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpres
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
Plants 318
- Dense-flower SmartweedPersicaria densiflora
- Carolina AshFraxinus caroliniana
- Water HickoryCarya aquatica
- Bent SedgeCarex styloflexa
- Cypress-swamp SedgeCarex joorii
- Fringed SedgeCarex crinita
- Ravenfoot SedgeCarex crus-corvi
- Weak Stellate SedgeCarex seorsa
- Swamp ButtercupRanunculus septentrionalis
- Drooping BulrushScirpus lineatus
- Shield Marsh-pennywortHydrocotyle verticillata
- Spreading BulrushScirpus divaricatus
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Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP summer habitat model for Eastern Kingbird Elevation sea level to 914 m. Avoids forest interior
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus