Cassin’s Kingbird & Co.

In what seems to be only the second New York state record, a Cassin’s Kingbird (Tyrannus vociferans) has been hanging out next to Floyd Bennett Field’s community garden. The species’ usual habitat is in the Southwest and Mexico, so it’s a long way from home. The temperature was in the 30s when I saw the bird yesterday; the bird was hawking from pillar to post… for what, exactly? What insects is it hunting in this weather? Before Wednesday’s rain, the bird was reportedly eating yellowjackets. Get thee south, bird!The white edging to the tail, blue-gray head, and white malar and chin are the important field marks. In flight, the yellow belly is bright as butter in the sun. The bird is named after John Cassin (1813-1869), curator at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.

I also came across some Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis). And a juvenile Red-Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), too young yet for the red-shoulders and chest, stalking the pine woods around the camp grounds.And the view across Flatbush Ave. at Dead Horse Bay. Yeah, Brooklyn!