Eastern Kingbird, Tyrannus tyrannus

I love Eastern Kingbirds! They are an attractive and graceful bird that seems to be more common this year than last. Two of these pictures were taken today at Glacial Park. The third (the bird sitting and facing the camera) shows the rarely seen red stripe on the crown. This is usually concealed by the dark head-feathers.

The larger picture shows one of the kingbirds with nesting material in its mouth. I have a pair of kingbirds that appear to have taken up territory at the back of my house in a large grass-filled catchment area. I hope they stay for the summer!