Ontbirders, This morning, while doing some late season odonate surveys in the Windsor area, I happened upon an adult Western Kingbird with three fledged [and still begging] hybrid [presumed] Eastern x Western Kingbird juveniles.
In terms of plumage, the juveniles were very pale gray on the crown, nape and mantle, with a very distinct / contrasting black mask. The upperparts showed no brown or olive tones at all. The wings [secondaries, coverts and tertials] were all edged in buff-white. The tail was contrastingly black, with striking white outer-tail feathers and pale tips, forming a narrow tail band. The throat was white [or nearly so] and the chest was washed with some pale gray. The underparts were washed with pale lemon yellow to the undertail coverts. I watched this group, on and off, for over an hour and observed the adult feeding the juveniles on several occasions. The begging calls [uttered endlessly] of the juveniles was a somewhat metallic ''plink'', quite different from the adults sharp ''bik'' call. The adult, though worn, did still have distinct white edges to the tail. There were two Eastern Kingbirds in the vicinity, although I never observed any interaction. I am assuming Eastern hybrid parentage based on the white throat, overall gray colour of the upperparts, lacking brown or olive tones and the pale tips to the tail feathers. I have a series of photos, of OK quality, that at least show all the requisite marks, although I have nowhere to post them. For those interested, e-mail me privately and I will send them along. At some point, I will try to get some of the photo's posted to the OFO website. Directions - From the intersection of Hwy 42 and Lauzon Parkway, go east a few hundred metres on 42 and turn left [north] on Lauzon Road. Go to the end of the road [about 1.5 km] and park where the road terminates at the RR tracks. Go west about 200m along the powerline ROW to the large red and white hydro tower. The group was spending much of it's time in this general area, on the wires and in low shrubs. They did range quite widely however, as I watched them go as far west as the edge of Lauzon Parkway and across the tracks to the north [an area that has lots of good habitat]. When I left, three of the birds were along Lauzon Road, on the wires that run in front of the large hydro station. Given that this group appears recently fledged, I would expect them to be in the area for sometime to come. The site is rather prairie-like, with stuff like Tall Ironweed growing in abundance and I have no doubt that these birds nested in this location. Pretty cool. Cheers, James Holdsworth, Biological Consulting Services 14 Marian St, RR#1 Woodstock, On, N4S-7V6 [519]537-2027 226-228-0093 [NEW][cell] jmholdswo...@rogers.com _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
