In the middle of Corpus Christi, Texas is something that’s not supposed to be there. It’s called a Cattle Tyrant, and this yellow bird has been causing a stir ever since its arrival.

Cattle Tyrants are medium sized birds in the Flycatcher family. They can be identified by their light gray head, brown back and wings, yellow underside, and barely visible reddish-orange stripe on the top of their head. They are native to South America, so when one was found in the continental United States, a frenzy of birders were eager to try and see it. 

This individual bird was first spotted by David Essian on November 12 of 2023 which happened to coincide with the Rio Grande Valley birding Festival, meaning hundreds of birders were within driving rage to see this out of place bird. From there, pictures and videos of the Cattle Tyrant hanging out in downtown Corpus Christi, hopping in and out of dumpsters, perching on the tops of buildings, and resting in palm trees circled around the internet with one instagram reel about it even garnering over 2 million views. 

With so much media attention on this bird, the response from locals was mixed. Some people enjoyed having this new resident in town and loved pointing it out to birders looking to find it. Others weren’t a fan, disliking the commotion brought about by the hoards of people wandering the streets with cameras and binoculars. 

Whether they like it or not, the natives of Corpus Christi may have their new guest around for a while longer as it’s now been over 3 months since it was first spotted and is still going about its business as usual, foraging in the streets and trees along the road as healthy and happy as ever. In their native range, Cattle Tyrants aren’t strangers to urban settings, such as the downtown areas of cities, and are normally fairly friendly, so this individual seems to feel right at home. 

A few questions still remain about this particular Cattle Tyrant. First of all, how did it get here? Cattle Tyrants live in South America, and don’t have a track record of extreme vagrancy, so many think it’s unlikely that it got to the United States on its own. Another potential explanation is that somebody transported and released the bird. However, Cattle Tyrants aren’t known as a species typically displayed on farms or kept as pets. For these reasons, the prevailing idea is that it made its way over from South America on a ship. Once that ship arrived in Texas, the Cattle Tyrant flew off and started its new life in North America.

Another question is what the American Birding Association or ABA will decide about how to  count this particular Cattle Tyrant. If it was assisted by a ship, and hopped on and off on its own, it would be countable for birder’s life lists. If it was released by humans then it wouldn’t. At this moment, the world of North American birding is still collectively awaiting the ABAs decision. 

At the end of the day, whether countable or not, the Cattle Tyrants time spent in Chorpus Christi Texas has been an interesting event for a lot of people. For birders visiting the region, seeing this yellow bird has served as a unique experience in a city they may have otherwise never had a reason to go to. For locals, it has been both something worth appreciating, and something that has interrupted the flow of their daily lives. Only time will tell what the records committee will mark the Tyrant as or how long it will stay; but until it leaves, it will continue to be one of the biggest celebrities in the world of North American Birding. Have you seen the Cattle Tyrant? What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments below and Thanks for watching, we’ll see you next time, on Badgerland Birding.