The Puerto Rican subspecies, T. c. taylori, has been proposed as a separate species, the Puerto Rican kingbird (T. taylori).[5]
Description
The loggerhead kingbird has a length of 24 to 26 cm (9.4 to 10.2 in), and is a large species of kingbird with a heavy bill. It is two-toned dark upper parts and lighter underparts. The head, apart from the throat, is black with an orange patch on the topmost part of the crown which is rarely seen.[6] The upperparts are gray and the underparts are lighter in color. In most populations there is a grayish band at the end of the tail, although this can be white.[7]
The loggerhead kingbird feeds on flying insects, small fruit and berries, and small lizards.[9] It is frequently observed hunting from exposed perches.[6] In Puerto Rico this species builds a cup shaped nest, fabricated from twigs, stems and grass. The pair vocalize constantly during courtship, making rattling and other loud calls, persistently chasing one another. Both male and female choose the nest site and once the selection has been made then the pair make low glides over the site before the female perches on the site. When she perches she flattens herself against the supporting branch, turning in a circle while vocalising and fluttering her wings while the males joins in the vocalizing and erects his normally concealed. brightly colored crown feathers. On Puerto Rico breeding is mainly observed between February and July but nest building can begin in November.[5] The clutch size is 2-4 eggs, except Jamaica where 4-5 eggs was the average. The adults are very aggressive towards other birds invading their territories and this may be why shiny cowbird (molothurus bonairensis) nest parasitism was not recorded for this species. It is a sedentary species, unlike the related gray kingbird (T. dominicensis) and it will move into the preferred habitat of the gray kingbird when the latter migrates away from the islands in winter.[10]
^Alcide d'Orbigny (1839). "Aves". Mamiferos y Aves. Historia fisica, politica y natural de la isla de Cuba (in Spanish). Paris. p. 70.
^Jan N I. Ohlson; Martin Irestedt; Per G. P. Ericson; Jon Fieldsa (2013). "Phylogeny and classification of the New World suboscines (Aves, Passeriformes)". Zootaxa. 3613 (1): 1–35. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3613.1.1. PMID24698900.
^ abcHerbert Raffaele; James Wiley; Orlando Garrido; Allan Keith; Janis Raffaele (2003). Birds of the West Indies. Helm Field Guides. Christopher Helm. p. 120. ISBN978-0-7136-5419-6.
^Garrido, Orlando H.; Kirkconnell, Arturo (2000). Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba. Ithaca, NY: Comstock, Cornell University Press. p. 159. ISBN978-0-8014-8631-9.