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Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Tyrannus forficatusOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Breeding Male Portrait
  Splitbar
Range Map for Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Overview

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: Medium flycatcher with pale gray upperparts and head, white underparts and throat, salmon-pink sides and flanks, and dark brown wings with white edges. Tail is long and scissor-like, black above with white outer edges and white below with black inner edges.

Range and Habitat

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: Breeds from eastern Colorado and Nebraska south to Texas and western Louisiana. Spends winters south of U.S.-Mexico border; a few in southern Florida. Preferred habitats include open country along roadsides and on ranches with scattered trees and bushes; often seen on fence posts and utility wires.

Splitbar

Listen:

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Voice Text

"ka-quee-ka-quee", "ka-lup", "bik", "kew"

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Related Birds:

Loggerhead Shrike
Western Kingbird
Say's Phoebe
Northern Shrike
Eastern Kingbird
Fork-tailed Flycatcher
.

Copyright © 2005 WBFI Research Foundation Bird database and its related content and media is Copyright (C) 2002 - 2005 Mitch Waite Group All rights reserved.

Family Flycatcher (Tyrannidae)_blue
Species Tyrannus forficatus
Length11.5 - 15 Inches
Wingspan14.8 Inches

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: Medium flycatcher with pale gray upperparts and head, white underparts and throat, salmon-pink sides and flanks, and dark brown wings with white edges. Tail is long and scissor-like, black above with white outer edges and white below with black inner edges.

● Song: "ka-quee-ka-quee", "ka-lup", "bik", "kew"

● Foraging & Feeding: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: Eats insects, especially grasshoppers and crickets. Perches on branch, utility wire, or fence, flying down to capture prey on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: Three to six white eggs with red, brown, olive, and gray blotches are laid in a nest made of twigs, lined with rootlets, grass, weeds, and hair, and built from 7 to 40 feet above the ground in a tree, shrub, utility pole, post, building, or other man-made structure. Incubation ranges from 14 to 17 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: Fork-tailed Flycatcher has a black head and white sides and flanks, it is a casual to accidental vagrant. Western Kingbird is similar to the short-tailed juvenile but has yellow underparts, olive-green tinted back, and a squared tail.

Flight Pattern

Light buoyant direct flight with shallow wing beats. Hovers briefly over prey before dipping to pick it up.
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: Breeds from eastern Colorado and Nebraska south to Texas and western Louisiana. Spends winters south of U.S.-Mexico border; a few in southern Florida. Preferred habitats include open country along roadsides and on ranches with scattered trees and bushes; often seen on fence posts and utility wires.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationAccidental to casual
MigrationMigratory
Weight1.5 Ounces