I had never heard of a Cattle Tyrant. But when one showed up in the urban center of the large shipping port of Corpus Christi last month, the rare bird alerts were activated! This yellow-bellied flycatcher is native to South America. In fact, one has NEVER been reported north of Panama.
Just in case the birding authorities allow us “listers” to count it as a wild bird (it’s very unlikely to be an escaped pet), I decided to make the two-hour drive from Harlingen. I parked the car at the designated area reported on e-Bird and walked across the busy downtown street. A friendly woman with a large telephoto lens pointed up to one of the trees on the corner. Crazy! There it was sitting quietly in a tangle of date palm fronds.
As indicated in the Smithsonian article above, the Texas bird records committee will likely rule this is as a case of ship assistance rather than a confused vagrant. And that means they won’t accept this media attention grabber on our county, state, or in my case – USA – lists. However, the American Birding Association (ABA) will also weigh in, so who knows.
Oh, that friendly woman; she was Yve Morrell. The person that shattered the BIG YEAR record (remember the movie) in 2017. I did not ask her opinion of the Cattle Tyrant’s provenance but I am curious what YOU think. SHOULD THE CATTLE TYRANT “COUNT”?
birdtalesblog 
Like the “C” in George C. Wood. I say it COUNTS!
Okay! Thanks Jeff. Happy Holidays.
Jeff Daye: jeffday0813@gmail.comm: 484-571-7052
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So, it seems like this is a tyrant worth supporting? 😂 Happy Holidays to you!
Of course it should count.
Merry Merry to you and yours….
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Howard Butcher IV610-999-7711
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Appreciate yr certainty Howard! HO HO HO from our house to yours.
For sure it should count. Starlings got here via ship too didn’t they?!
Good point Puss! European Starlings are not endemic. The authorities rule in favor of counting “immigrants” once they have established a viable population. But it IS possible the Cattle Tyrant simply flew here on his own. That counts for sure!
Definitely counts – that little bird has smashed the glass ceiling and made it where no other cattle tyrant has ventured before. Of course it counts!
LOVE your “can do” attitude Fleur!!! Sending Holiday greetings to yr entire gang from Haverford, Pennsylvania!😀❤️
Dude:
Love it!!!
Wendell
Merry Christmas and HNY to Ardmore’s finest! Miss you my friend. GCW
It absolutely should count. It was never captive; it wasn’t released. It made the trip of its own accord. Whether ship-assisted or not we’ll never know and shouldn’t assume one way or the other
Woo-hoo! Is this Brian Gibbons? Happy Holidays! GCW
A tyrannical yellow flycatcher! Hahaha!