Wildlife in Guatemala: A Great kiskadee is seen perched in a tree

A Great kiskadees is seen perched near a pond in a shrimp farm, in the Monterrico beach, Taxisco, Guatemala. The great kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus), called bem-te-vi in Brazil, pitogue in Paraguay, benteveo or bichofeo in Argentina, and luis bienteveo, luis grande or chilera in Mexico and Central American, is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae. It is the only member of the genus Pitangus. The great kiskadee occupies a wide range of habitats, from open grassland with scattered trees to urban areas. It is mainly found in Belize, the Lower Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas, and northern Mexico. Cited in Costa Rica in December 2022. Occurs throughout Brazil and Venezuela (especially the central and south-southeastern regions) south to Uruguay, Paraguay and central Argentina, the Guyana coastline, and Trinidad. It was introduced to Bermuda in 1957, and to Tobago in about 1970. The great kiskadee is a common, noisy, and conspicuous bird. It is almost omnivorous and hunts like a shrike or flycatcher, waiting on an open perch high in a tree to sally out and catch insects in flight or to pounce upon rodents and similar small vertebrates such as other birds' chicks and bats. It will also take prey such as small snakes, lizards, frogs, perched insects, spiders, millipedes and land snails) and some seeds and fruit from vegetation by gleaning and jumping for it or ripping it off in mid-hover, and occasionally dives for freshwater snails, fish or tadpoles in shallow water, making it one of the few fishing passerines. It also visits feeding stations to eat bread, dog food, bananas and bird or squirrel food. Kiskadees like to hunt on their own or in pairs. Such opportunistic feeding behavior makes it one of the most common birds in urban areas around Latin America its flashy belly and its shrill call make it one of the most conspicuous.

View Full Image on Dreamstime

Username: Cduartefoto

Editorial: No

Width: 3295 pixels

Height: 2165 pixels

Downloads: 0

Image ID: 342991801