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Eastern Kingbird

Photo of the Week (June 18th, 2017)

(archive photos of the week here)

Middle of June, the first day of summer is here, and we're in full-blown "summer mode" in terms of birding.  That means focusing on our wonderful summer breeding birds, and forgetting about the wonderful array of migrants that passed through in the spring.  As we say goodbye to Spring, a nod to a bird that to me typifies "summer" in eastern South Dakota.  Eastern Kingbirds are among the most common songbirds during the summer.  You can find them on seemingly every fenceline.  They're not particularly flashy, with a simple black-and-white color scheme.  However, they're still one of my favorites, both because of their aggressive, fun-to-observe behavior, but also because when they DO arrive in early to mid-May, you know that the cold South Dakota weather is DONE!  For a few months anyway!  Here's an Eastern Kingbird sitting on an eastern red cedar, taken in June 2017 near Corson, South Dakota.

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