|
Species Profile ~ Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Tyranus forficatus
by Ben Thornton, age
13
One bird that I would
really love to see is a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.
I remember when I was younger, and just getting into
birding, my mom and I were looking through a field
guide and I saw a picture of this amazing bird. I
couldn't believe its long and beautiful forked
tail. Ever since then, it has been the number one
bird that I want to see.
This Flycatcher
commonly occurs in open country or on woodland
edges. It prefers grasslands in Texas and Oklahoma,
where it is a familiar sight along highways.
The Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher belongs to the genus Tyrannus. This is
the same as the Kingbirds. In fact, this songbird
closely resembles a Kingbird in size, except for its
long, forked tail. It is most closely related to the
Fork-tailed Flycatcher, which is rarely found in
North America. One of the differences between the
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and the Fork-tailed
Flycatcher is that the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
does not have the black cap that a Fork-tailed
Flycatcher has. The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher has
pearl-gray upperparts, dusky brown wings and white
outer tail feathers tipped with black. The
underparts are whitish with salmon pink sides,
flanks, and underwing coverts. Of course, its most
notable feature is its long split tail, which is
what makes it my favorite bird. The females have a
shorter tail than the male. The female's tail is
about 11-19 cm long. The male's is about 14 - 26 cm
long. The female and juveniles are paler than the
adult males.
This Flycatcher breeds
regularly in Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska,
Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and Mexico,
and winters in southern Mexico and Costa Rica.
Normally, fall migration takes place by mid-October,
and in the spring, they leave their wintering
grounds in March and arrive on the breeding grounds
by mid-March or April.
As with most
Flycatchers, the Scissor-taileds' diet is mostly
insects, especially grasshoppers, crickets, and
beetles. It flies from its perch, usually a fence,
grabs its prey and returns to the perch. It flies
with rapid wing beats with a folded tail, eating
smaller insects in flight.
The nests are usually
built in small isolated trees or shrubs. A favorite
tree is the honey mesquite. Sometimes nests are on
telephone poles and streetlamps. They are not
usually found in forested areas. They are made up
of plant materials such as cudweed and Spanish moss,
more sturdy on the outer nest with finer and softer
material in the cup of the nest. Scissor-tailed
Flycatchers make their nests together, but the
female does the majority of the work. The female
then lays four to five eggs which are smaller than
the Eastern and Western Kingbirds. They are white
or creamy white with dark reddish spots at the
larger end of the egg. The female incubates the
eggs for 14 days.
The young birds hatch
unassisted and have reddish-brown skin with light,
white down. Hatchlings are fed by both parents.
The young hatchlings can squeak at the time of
hatching and are able to make a chur note at five to
six days.
The adults voice has a
song that is simpler, lower, and flatter than the
Western Kingbird's pidik pek pik pik pidEEK. Their
call is a low, flat pik.
One day soon, I hope
to hear this sound! My family is planning a
vacation to the Southwest this summer and my plans
are to go birding. Although I know I will see a lot
of new birds to add to my life list, I am most
looking forward to seeing the Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher!
Page last updated on
Friday July 25, 2008
|
