Abstract

GONZALEZ-OREJA, José Antonio  and  JIMENEZ-MORENO, Francisco Javier. First record of piscivory in the Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus). Huitzil [online]. 2018, vol.19, n.2, pp.281-284. ISSN 1870-7459.  https://doi.org/10.28947/hrmo.2018.19.2.350.

Tyrant flycatchers (i.e., Tyrannidae) are primarily insectivores, but they can supplement their diet with spiders, fruits, or small vertebrates. Kingbirds are among the most specialized predators in this family, since they prey almost exclusively on flying insects. We document a Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus) capturing and eating a small fish (Poeciliopsis gracilis) in one of the bodies of water of the main campus of the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, in Puebla, Mexico. Although it is known that the Grey Kingbird (T. dominicensis) and the Eastern Kingbird (T. tyrannus) can prey opportunistically on fish, this is the first time fish-eating has been reported for the Tropical Kingbird.

Keywords : Neotropical passerines; predation; trophic ecology; Tyrannidae; urban habitats.