Episode 110: Eastern Kingbird – Voice of the Wild

Eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus). 

 

The tyrant chattering over farms and fields. 

 

Voice of the Wild is a podcast about wildlife and the wild sounds they make. 

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The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode: 

• Eastern kingbird song by Geoffrey A. Keller (ML507701) 
• Eastern kingbird call by Geoffrey A. Keller (ML507703) 

Sources and more: 

• Cornell’s All About Birds 
• Audubon 
• Field guide to hotspots and birds in Illinois by Colin Dobson 
• Audubon videoguide to 505 birds of North America 
• Peterson field guide to the birds (Fourth edition) 
• Peterson’s Birding by Ear 
• Sibley Birds East 

What is Voice of the Wild?

If you learn to listen for them, you will find wildlife everywhere. Voice of the Wild is a podcast about wildlife and the wild sounds they make. Tune in every Friday to learn a new bird song, frog call, or insect noise. Voice of the Wild is an AI-free podcast. Generative tools are not used to write, research, or edit any part of the show.

This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”

A tyrant over the summer skies of field and farm, with no tolerance for hawks, eagles, jays, or crows. To most birds these predators might be intimidating, but to this fearless flycatcher, they’re nothing but interlopers and to be dealt with posthaste. This is the eastern kingbird.

The outrage at a predator’s trespass is almost palpable on the kingbird’s skittering call and shallow flickering wingbeats when they chase it away. When they return to their perch, often a powerline or hedgerow, you’ll see their overall simple black and white plumage and the prominent white band at the base of their tail. Their high-pitched metallic calls are sometimes described as sounding like electricity arcing between wires, but having grown up in rural Illinois, to me it just sounds like summer break. Here’s the eastern kingbird again.

Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW