Tyrannus couchii
Status: Accidental in fall.
Documentation: Photograph: 28 Nov 2024 (Christine and Robert Nelson, eBird Checklist – 28 Nov 2024 – North Platte, Nebraska; recording: 17 Dec 2024 (Stephen Brenner, eBird.org; Brogie 2025).
Taxonomy: Recently, Chesser et al (2018) rearranged the order of subfamilies within the Tyrannidae, placing Tyranninae (Nebraska-occurring genera Myiarchus, Pitangus, Tyrannus) ahead of Fluvicolinae (Nebraska-occurring genera Contopus, Empidonax, Sayornis, Pyrocephalus). We follow this order of genera.
No subspecies are recognized (Gill et al 2022).
Record: A yellow-bellied kingbird photographed at North Platte, Lincoln Co 28 Nov 2024 (Christine Nelson, Robert Nelson) disappeared unidentified to species until it reappeared and was photographed 15 Dec (Christine Nelson, Robert Nelson) and subsequently seen by many through 4 Jan 2025. Fortunately, multiple observers on the North Platte CBC 17 Dec took photos and recordings that confirmed the identification as Couch’s (Brogie 2025).
Comments: There were two previous reports, neither accepted by NOURC. One at Fontenelle Forest, Sarpy Co, 9 May 2015 was identified by calls; the three observers, members of a single party, each submitted a written report including descriptions of the calls. One of the observers had extensive experience with vocalizations of the species in South Texas. The reports were not accepted by NOURC as they were considered to “lack conclusive evidence for a first state record” (Brogie 2016). The second report included a photo of one in Douglas Co 25 Jul 2015, also not accepted by NOURC as “lacking details for approval” (Brogie 2016).
The only record of this species on the Great Plains north of New Mexico and Oklahoma is of one in eastern Colorado Apr 2016 (eBird.org, accessed Nov 2023). There are no records for Kansas. There are a few vagrant records northeastward, however; of the six records, four are in Nov-Jan and one in Sep: Michigan in May, Massachusetts in Sep, Pennsylvania in Nov, Michigan Nov-Dec, Virginia in Nov-Dec, and New York in Dec-Jan (eBird.org, accessed Dec 2024).
Images
Abbreviations
NOURC: Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee
Literature Cited
Brogie, M.A. 2016. 2015 (27th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 84: 138-150.
Brogie, M.A. 2025. NBR, in press.
Chesser, R.T., K.J. Burns, C. Cicero, J.L. Dunn, A.W Kratter, I.J. Lovette, P.C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, Jr., D.F. Stotz, B.M. Winger, and K. Winker. 2018. Fifty-ninth Supplement to the American Ornithological Society’s Check-list of North American Birds. Auk 135: 798-813. https://doi.org/10.1642/AUK-18-62.1.
Gill, F., D. Donsker, and P. Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2025. Couch’s Kingbird (Tyrannus couchii). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 13 Mar 2025