This is the first Kingbird I’ve seen this season. Although technically a songbird, their call is no substitute for a meadowlark! I’ve never heard one singing before though so this was a pretty cool encounter for me. And it’s always cool when a bird will continue to sing while it’s being watched rather than immediately flying away instead.
These are some of the later birds to show up in the Calgary area in the spring and their arrival is a pretty good sign that summer is just around corner. The main reason for their late arrival is that they overwinter in South America. That’s a long way to fly in the spring and the fall!
