Scissor-tails are here and lookin’ Good!

June 3rd, 2009 |

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus)

Lately, I’ve been whining every time I see a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus). I never have my camera when I see one, and when I go looking for one, I don’t see one. Clearly, my luck has changed!

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher couple

I saw this handsome couple when returning home from volunteering at the construction site for the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center. (I’ll have much more about the raptor center in the future.) For now, I’m enjoying a few precious moments of satisfaction before I start picking my pictures apart.

The male (left) has the famously long tail feathers, while the female (right) has comparatively short ones. Their tail feathers look so delicate and fragile, yet they apparently work just fine.

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In this photo, you can kinda see the salmon-colored feathers under his wings. You can REALLY see where he got his name.

After posing serenely for me, the male flew up and around the female (showing off!):

Further showing off from Mr. Scissor-tail:

"Are you watching?"

The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher’s range is fairly limited in North America, and I know I am so lucky to be able to see them all through the summer. I was really surprised to see the map of vagrant sightings – so if you live outside their range – you just might see one anyway!

Range Map ¹

Note: Range depicted for New World only.² The scale of the maps may cause narrow coastal ranges or ranges on small islands not to appear. Not all vagrant or small disjunct occurrences are depicted. For migratory birds, some individuals occur outside of the passage migrant range depicted. A shapefile of this map is available for download at www.natureserve.org/getData/animalData.jsp. ³

I usually like to lookup birds I see in my 100-yr old bird guide, and this time is no exception. The author of the species account is clearly impressed with the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher – the words “graceful,” “gracefully,” and “grace” are all used:

Also interesting to note, the scientific name in this guide is Muscivora forficata, not Tyrannus forficatus. The ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System) Report for Muscivora forficata says that this name was deemed invalid by the AOU in 1983. Johan Friedrich Gmelin is credited with both names, so either way, he has the honor of naming this bird. Gmelin, a German scientist, also named a very special favorite bird of mine, the American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), in the same year, 1789.

I’ll close with one more picture. Enjoy.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, male

Copyright Notice: Copyright © 2009 NatureServe, 1101 Wilson Boulevard, 15th Floor, Arlington Virginia 22209, U.S.A. All Rights Reserved. Each document delivered from this server or web site may contain other proprietary notices and copyright information relating to that document. The following citation should be used in any published materials which reference the web site. ↩
Citation for Bird Range Maps of North America:
Ridgely, R.S., T.F. Allnutt, T. Brooks, D.K. McNicol, D.W. Mehlman, B.E. Young, and J.R. Zook. 2003. Digital Distribution Maps of the Birds of the Western Hemisphere, version 1.0. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia, USA. ↩
Acknowledgement Statement for Bird Range Maps of North America:
Data provided by NatureServe in collaboration with Robert Ridgely, James Zook, The Nature Conservancy – Migratory Bird Program, Conservation International – CABS, World Wildlife Fund – US, and Environment Canada – WILDSPACE. ↩

Posted in Birding |

Tags: gmelin, scissor-tailed flycatcher

4 Responses to “Scissor-tails are here and lookin’ Good!”

Larry Jordan:

June 3, 2009 at 11:26 pm

Wow Amber, what beautiful captures of a simply gorgeous bird. I love flycatchers and am lucky enough to have Ash-throated Flycatchers breeding on my property. We also have Western Kingbirds, Black and Say’s Phoebes and several Empids that breed nearby in the summer.

All the flycatchers are graceful and I can imagine the scissor-tails are even more so. You can see it in the great in flight shots you captured. The one with the male flying over the female and looking back at her is exceptional!

I am looking forward to your hosting the next IATB! I will send you the best post I can muster

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noflickster:

July 19, 2009 at 2:45 pm

I just discovered your site and really enjoyed your trip to the Arkansas Ozarks, especially because my family is just back from a lightening-trip back to Fayetteville – it took a while, but I realize how much I miss the place.

One of my targets was to photograph Scissor-tails, the bird I miss the most. Your photos on this post are the ones I was hoping to capture, ones that highlighted their habitat and spirit. I only managed some blah images of birds on wires or fences, nothing like the beautiful shots you created.

I’ll certainly be following your future posts!

-Mike

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Amber Coakley:

July 19, 2009 at 10:27 pm

Hey Mike – thanks so much. It sounds like you may live in an area where there are no scissor-tails – I sure can see how you would miss them. Thanks for the note – will come over to your blog for a visit soon.

Reply
noflickster:

July 22, 2009 at 10:14 pm

Hi Amber – no Scissor-tails, usually, here in the southern tier of NY. I’m still waiting for a wayward migrant to make an appearance. Of course, they keep me coming back to Arkansas each year!
-Mike

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Scissor-tails are here and lookin’ Good!

4 Responses to “Scissor-tails are here and lookin’ Good!”

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