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  Profile

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  In flight

Songbirds

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Tyrannus forficatus

• rare
• 38 km/h
• Least Concern

Tail streamers double its body length.

Population

~9.1 million mature individuals (2019 estimate), decreasing trend (short-term decline ~7% over ten years, reported as non-significant)

Habitat

Open and semi-open country with scattered trees — prairies, savannas, grasslands, shrublands, agricultural land, and pasture edges; breeds from sea level to about 2,300 m

Fun fact

The male's spectacular courtship flight includes vertical climbs, backward somersaults, and steep dives with his extravagantly long, forked tail streaming behind him — the same tail that makes this species the official state bird of Oklahoma.

Range

Breeds in south-central USA (Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, eastern New Mexico) and small parts of northeastern Mexico; migrates through Texas and eastern Mexico to winter mainly from southern Mexico to Panama, with a small resident population in southern Mexico; vagrant north to Canada, east to Florida/Georgia

Diet

Primarily insects — grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, robber flies, dragonflies, and other flying insects caught on the wing by "hawking" from a perch; supplements with berries and small fruit, especially in winter

Size

0.36 m

Wingspan

0.38 m

Lifespan

6 years