On Thu, 8 Jun 1995, Dennis Paulson wrote:

> I don't know about omniscient, but I do know one or two things about
> kingbirds. Western Kingbirds are definitely characteristic of dry, open
> areas, while Eastern Kingbirds are devoted to the waterside and very
> typically nest in willows, often at a rather low height but almost always
> over the water, where they are about as well protected from predation as a
> Western is high on its crossbar. Most avian predators don't stand a chance
> against a pair of kingbirds! Their habitat types abut sufficiently often
> so that the species can be seen from the same place at many localities. An
> EAKI nest on a utility pole crossbar is a real surprise to me.
>

The Eastern Kingbird nest on the high tension cable crossbar was in
Massachusetts. Of three or four EAKI nests I've found in the east, one
was on the crossbar, the others were in small to medium sized trees. One
was in an apple tree - apple orchard next to dry grassy field is my "search
image" for EAKI nest sites in the East. Perhaps habitat and nest-site
preferences both differ between eastern Eastern Kingbirds and western
Eastern Kingbirds. In the east, EAKIs are definitely *not* "devoted to
the waterside" as Dennis mentions above.

Chris Hill
Seattle, WA
cehill at u.washington.edu