Regal, long-billed kingbirds headed south

I’ve been seeing many eastern kingbirds on the telephone wires lately. They are regal birds, shiny black on their backs and glossy white on the underside with a white band going across the end of the tail.

On the wires the bird usually presents a silhouette that is nearly vertical. Another trait helps birders identify this species: It flies off its perch, snatches a flying insect and returns to its perch to pluck off the bug’s wings before it eats it.

Males and females both have a narrow scarlet strip from the forehead to the crown. It is almost never seen by birders, but by a mate or an antagonist in an intense moment.

The kingbird has a long bill and a wide “gape,” a term for a bird’s mouth. Its gape is surrounded with half-inch, very narrow feathers simulating bristles. These help the bird snatch the insect. That is, if the bird feels the insect on the right with its “bristles,” it can correct its open bill toward the right and catch the insect.

In June, kingbirds often chase and harass crows, blue jays and hawks, since those species will snatch from the nest and eat kingbird eggs or young if they get a chance.

Audubon members often see kingbirds along streams as they paddle canoes. Their nests are very obvious in streamside shrubs and trees. They fly over the stream, snatch a flying insect and feed it to their young.

I once saw a kingbird on the road, lying on its bill, throat and breast with its tail in the air. I thought it was road-killed, but I pulled my car over and picked up the bird to study its red strip. Then, still thinking it was dead, I put it gently on the floor of my car for further study.

On the way home, it started to flutter around. I headed for a bird rehabilitator I knew. She examined the kingbird carefully and found no serious injury. She wanted to keep it overnight to be sure it was OK. I called her the next day, and she said, “It was fine this morning. I let it go, and away it flew.” I was so glad I had stopped for that bird.

Kingbirds are now on their way to South America to spend the winter. It’s a dangerous journey. Mortality is high from hawks, windows, cars, cats, towers and pesticides.

Those who survive the journey spend the winter mostly in the Amazon watershed, where they fly in flocks and eat fruit, a lifestyle vastly different from theirs in Maine.

For information on Fields Pond Audubon Center, call 989-2591.