The Story
This Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) was at Reserva Natural Agua Fría in Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia when I photographed it. In most of its range pairs are permanent residents and stay together all year. Its prey includes beetles, bees, wasps, termites, butterflies, dragonflies and grasshoppers. It breeds from southern Arizona and Texas through Central and South America to central Argentina. It breeds in semi-open areas with trees and shrubs, including gardens and roadsides. Agua Fría is one of the civil-society reserves of Ibagué’s nature tourism network, in premontane humid forest at about 1,150 to 1,200 meters.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. IUCN lists the Tropical Kingbird as Least Concern, with an increasing population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) belongs to the family Tyrannidae (Tyrant Flycatchers) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2022), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List