English and Scientific names:	“Tropical” Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus or couchii)
Number of individuals:	1 adult
Locality: LOUISIANA:	Vermilion
Specific Locality:	near junction of Hwy 700 and 699
Date(s) when observed:	01/28/2007
Time(s) of day when observed:	about 4:30 PM
Reporting observer and address:	Paul Conover Lafayette, LA
Other observers accompanying reporter who also identified the bird	Dave Patton, Mac Myers
Other observers who idependently identified the bird	This bird was found on 01/20/2007 by the Bosler brothers.
Light conditions (position of bird in relation to shade and to direction and amount of light):	Decent late afternoon light.
Optical equipment:	Zeiss 10’s, Nikon ED III Fieldscope w/ 20-60x zoom.
Distance to bird(s):	from 150 yards to within 30 feet [but when bird was tucked inside foliage].
Duration of observation:	about 20 minutes
Habitat:	A rural enclave of houses with a few moderate sized Live Oaks, surrounded otherwise by pastures and hedgerows. The bird was in a yard; we asked permission to walk back from the road to get better looks.
Behavior of bird:	Bird perched and fed from Live Oak, then flew to opposite side of field from us. The bird then went to roost within the crown of a Live Oak.
Description:	A yellow-bellied Kingbird with a greenish back, grayish head, and white throat. The yellow beneath  extended from the upper breast to the undertail. The yellow was bright. The chin and throat were white. The greenish of the mantle contrasted with dark brownish flight feathers and coverts, and with the grayish color of the head. Tertials were blunt and edged in whitish. Rectrices appeared uniformly blunt-ended, as in adults. Tail seemed to show slight notch. Bill relatively short, thick, and conical.
Voice:	Not heard. We played Couch’s and Tropical songs, but got no response. The bird seemed agitated upon hearing Couch’s, but that may have been coincidence or a subjective judgement on my part.
Similar species:	Couch’s and Tropical are a notorious separation problem, even in hand. Overlap in all characteristics makes field separation a matter of guesswork at best without hearing vocalizations. This bird seemed to fit well for Couch’s, but given the wide range of Tropical and the differing measurements of Tropical subspecies, I’m not comfortable ruling them out. I am content to call this bird a ‘Tropical’ in the broad sense. This bird appeared to be an adult, which would have made positive identification probable with a specimen.
Photographs or tape recordings obtained?	Photos by Dave Patton, poor video by me.
Previous experience with this species:	Moderate.
Identification aids:	I’m pretty familiar with the Traylor paper on separating Tropical and Couch’s, including the caveats.
This description is written from:
Are you positive of your identification? If not, explain:	I’m certain that this is a “Tropical” Kingbird. I wouldn’t hazard a guess as to Tropical or Couch’s.
Reporter:	Paul Conover
Date and time:	Jan 28, 2007