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.

Breeding and 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.

Foraging and 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.

Readily Eats

Meal Worms

Vocalization

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher: Song is a harsh sharp "bik" or "kew." Call is a dry, buzzing chattering "ka-quee-ka-quee" or repeated "ka-lup."

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.