Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

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Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Tyrranidae
Genus:	Tyrannus
Species:	T. forficatus

Binomial name

Tyrannus forficatus
(Gmelin, 1789)

The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus) is a long-tailed insect-eating bird closely related to the kingbirds.

Adult birds have gray upper parts and light underparts with pinkish flanks. They have dark wings and extremely long, forked black tails. Immature birds are duller in color and have shorter tails.

Their breeding habitat is open shrubby country with scattered trees in the south-central United States and northeastern Mexico. They build a cup nest in a tree or shrub on a branch, sometimes using artificial sites such as telephone poles. The male performs a spectacular aerial display during courtship with his long tail forks streaming out behind him. Both parents feed the young. Like other kingbirds, they are very aggressive in defending their nest.

They migrate to southern Mexico and Central America and in small numbers to south Florida. They regularly stray to the ocean coasts of the US and are occasional visitors to southern Canada.

These birds feed mainly on insects, which they catch by waiting on a perch and then flying out to catch them in flight (hawking). They also eat some berries.

This is the state bird of Oklahoma.

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Tyrannus forficatus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern