Return of Bird of the Week: Lesser Kiskadee
Oh look! It’s yet another yellow, black and white flycatcher! WC warned you: there are a lot of flycatchers, and many of them look a lot alike. This is a Lesser Kiskadee, Philohydor lictor, a smaller cousin to the Great Kiskadee.
Lesser Kiskadee, Ecuador
The Lesser Kiskadee has the same basic coloration as the Rusty-margined Flycatcher and the Social Flycatcher – all three are Tyrant Flycatchers, members of the family Tyrannidae – But in the Lesser the white ring on the head comes all the way around the front. The reddish in the wings and tail is more extensive, and the black mask is distinctly narrower.
Lesser Kiskadee, Brazil
The bill is longer and more slender than the other two species. None of these field marks is especially easy but, as WC warned, flycatchers are hard.
Here’s a side-by-side of the three species:
 Social Flycatcher, Costa Rica |
 Rusty-margined Flycatcher, Southern Ecuador |
 Lesser Kiskadee, Ecuador |
For more bird photographs, please visit Frozen Feather Images.