p_ 400 _090_ 000 
miles 
ig. 3. — General distribution of the eastern kingbird. The 
aed range may include large sections in which populations of the 
es are thin or even absent because of the nature of the terrain and 
ity of suitable habitat. 
the spring migration of kingbirds in Illinois was 
urnal. In Pope County on May 5, 1967 we witnessed 
-may have been a migration arrival, when kingbirds 
enly apeared about 11:00 a.m. in areas where there 
been none earlier. 
he first few eastern kingbirds begin to appear in 
ern Illinois about mid-April, and in centtral and 
tern Illinois in late April (Fig. 4). Adcock’s (1922) 
h 21 record for central Illinois is either erroneous or 
lental. Even records as early as April 8-10 (Cooke 
, Widmann 1907, Kleen & Bush 19726) are 
ordinary and most observers do not detect the 
es until about May 1. Peak numbers of kingbirds 
1 southern Illinois by May 8, and central and 
ern Illinois about May 20 (Fig. 4). In northern and 
al Illinois the migration probably extends into the 
week of June. 
120 years of observation (1903-1922) in east-central 
lis, Smith’s (1930) earliest spring record for the 
m kingbird was April 20, and the median arrival 
was April 27. A more recent 25-year record (to 1971) 
ival dates for kingbirds in west-central Illinois by 
he and James Funk (personal communication) 
slightly earlier arrivals — the earliest being April 
id the median date April 25. 
During the peak of migration kingbirds are often 
encountered in flocks of 10-40 or more birds. Though 
they are usually perched on fences and power lines or in 
trees, on cool days it is not uncommon to find them on 
the ground, particularly on plowed fields (Hancock 1888, 
Graber unpublished notes). 
Distribution 
The general distribution of the eastern kingbird is 
shown in Fig. 3. For such a conspicuous species there are 
surprisingly few actual nesting records for Illinois, but the 
June distribution indicates a fairly uniform nesting 
population throughtout the state (Fig. 5). In addition to 
plotted records on the map, there are recent June records 
(no specific locality given) for Jersey and Monroe counties 
(personal communication from D. Anderson), and there 
are specimens establishing old nesting records for two 
counties — Winnebago County (U.S. National Museum 
specimens), and Warren County (Chicago Museum of 
Natural History specimens). 
Nesting Habitats and Populations 
The eastern kingbird could be characterized as a 
savannah species, nesting in a variety of woody cover, 
surrounded by or adjacent to open country, from 
farmsteads to forest edge. Pastures, shrub areas, and 
orchards have been considered favorite habitats (Graber 
& Graber 1963, Ridgway 1887, Nehrling 1883). 
Population densities in suitable habitats vary from about 
two to nine kingbirds per 100 acres (Table 1). Ina study 
of hedgerows in Ford County, we found only two pairs of 
kingbirds in about 5 miles of roadside hedge. In southern 
Illinois Brewer (1958) found that the younger 
successional growths of trees and shrubs (6-20 years) after 
strip mining had kingbirds, whereas an older stand 
(21-24 years) did not. 
Barnes (1890) believed that the kingbird was not 
particular in its choice of nest sites. Both Barnes (1890, 
1897) and Coursen (1947) found nests in dead trees 
standing in water, and other nests over water were found 
in live willows. Gates (1911) considered the kingbird to be 
a bottomland species, but there are no population 
measurements to show whether the species has a definite 
preference for lowland or upland habitats. Kingbirds 
definitely nest in both situations. Most of the recorded 
nests in Illinois were found in apple trees (Malus), though 
oaks (Quercus), willows (Salx), and osage orange 
(Maclura pomifera) were also commonly used as nest 
sites. Heights of nests have varied from 3 to 40 feet, most 
commonly from 10 to 20 feet. 
Swink’s (1960) study of perching sites of kingbirds also 
gives an impression of the species’ habitat. The most 
frequently observed perching sites were telephone wires 
(11.5 percent), fences (8.5 percent), various species of 
oaks (11 percent), apples (8.5 percent), willows (8.5 
percent), and cottonwoods, Populus deltoides, (4.5 
percent). 
Kingbirds show some tolerance of humans. Ridgway 
(1915) had a pair on 8 acres of suburban residential area 
5 
