Where can you spot them? Almost anywhere in Bermuda. The kiskadee population is huge, and the birds occupy every habitat from the coast, to woodland, to urban areas.
- Two hundred kiskadees were introduced to Bermuda in 1957 to control lizard populations. Lizards, meanwhile, had been introduced to control fruit flies that were damaging local crops.
- Kiskadees failed as a biological control because they were omnivorous, and instead of eating lizards, ate many helpful local insects, and the eggs of smaller birds.
- The kiskadee poses a threat to the white-eyed vireo and bluebird by occupying their nesting sites, and killing eggs and chicks.
- Kiskadees also eat the berries and seeds from invasive plants, which spreads the seeds around the island.
- Kiskadees eat marine and brackish fish, including fish in ponds helpful for reducing the mosquito population.
- Kiskadees were probably responsible for the extinction of the Bermuda Cicada, our only giant insect. They can be seen acrobatically snatching insects right out of the air.
- Kiskadees in Bermuda are estimated to be ten times as numerous as they are in their native range. This is due to lack of competition from similar species. Instead, the kiskadee outcompetes local birds because it feeds on such a wide variety of things.
- Kiskadees nest in the summer on trees and utility poles. Their nests are messy, often utilizing pieces of trash to construct them. They lay two to four eggs each breeding season (spring and summer).
