It is an exciting time when a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus) appears in New Brunswick. One has recently appeared in Baie Verte on the east coast, southeast of Shediac (November 2024). This species is a widespread vagrant and is a rare-to-casual spring or fall visitor here. This doesn’t happen every year but we have had many reports over the years. In recent years there have been two individuals appear; one at Point Escuminac in 2009 and one at Big Salmon River Road in June 2024. They seem to appear mostly across the southern and eastern parts of the province.
I saw one on 26 June 2002 at Black’s Harbour while I was waiting in line for the ferry. Another sighting was on 2 June 2011 when I saw and photographed one outside St. Andrews near Ghost Road. Both were adult birds. The normal range of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is the south-western US. It breeds in summer in Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. It winters in southern Mexico, the extreme south of Florida and Central America. Its preferred habitat is open grasslands with some trees and shrubs. It also is found in orchards, pastures, golf courses and other agricultural areas.
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is a member of the Kingbird family, Tyrannidae. It is a very long-tailed insectivorous species and is sometimes called a ‘Kingbird on a Stick’. That is a good name because its tail looks very long and unwieldy. It was formally described in 1789 by Johann Friedrich Gmelin, a German naturalist. It is one of 13 species placed in the Tyrannus species. It is most closely related to the Western Kingbird and they are often seen together. That may explain why birders in New Brunswick saw a Western Kingbird in Aulac one day and later that day a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was found in Baie Verte, just 22 km away. They may both have been brought north on the same southerly winds.
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is a very pale-bodied flycatcher whose white head contrasts with its dark wings and tail, both of which show flashes of white. It is 25 to 38 cm long depending on the length of the tail, the male being larger than the female. The tail looks like a stick hanging on the back of the bird. No other flycatcher looks so white-headed. The male’s tail is longer than the female’s. The bird shows a pinkish wash on the belly, salmon-pink on the flanks and the underwing coverts, and bright red axillaries (armpits). The female appears duller than the male with a shorter tail. The juvenile is much duller on the wings and tail than the adults and the tail is much shorter. Its central tail feathers are edged in reddish brown. It looks somewhat like the Western Kingbird.
The only species one would have to distinguish this species from is the Fork-tailed Flycatcher which also has a long tail. Their flight is different; the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher exhibits stiff and unbending flight with that long tail, the Fork-tailed shows a wavy tail in flight. (I noticed this in the Fork-tailed Flycatcher seen on Grand Manan in 2000.) The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher lacks the black cap of the Fork-tailed Flycatcher and has the salmon-pink underparts. The juvenile Scissor-tailed Flycatcher would have to be distinguished from the Western Kingbird but it does not have yellow on its belly.
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher can be quite tame, allowing birders to approach. It is often seen perched on a barbed wire fence, overhead wires, trees or bushes. It feeds by sallying out to snap up a flying insect or it will take insects from ground vegetation. It can be aggressive and is known to chase away a hawk.
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher’s main diet consists of grasshoppers, robber-flies and dragonflies. Most of these are caught by hawking. It undoubtedly eats a greater variety of insects while visiting New Brunswick. It will also eat berries in winter.
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher builds its nest in trees and bushes and sometimes in telephone poles. The male performs a spectacular aerial courtship display. This includes such acrobatics as somersaults and is called a ‘sky dance’. That must be something to see with that long streaming tail! Three to 6 eggs are laid in a cup-shaped nest. Both adults feed the nestlings. They are very aggressive in defending the nest.
The vocalizations of this species are not spectacular. They don’t need to be with a tail like that! The song is similar to the Western Kingbird and is a series of ‘pip’ notes. The call note is similar, a ‘pik’ or a nasal ‘chuh’.
This species is significant in culture. It is the state bird of Oklahoma. On their official emblem it is depicted with its tail and flight feathers spread out. It also appears on a commemorative 25-cent coin for Oklahoma and on the Oklahoma licence plate. A professional soccer team, the FC Tulsa, shows this species on its crest. This species has even made its way into the televised world, being part of a 2015 National Geographic Kids TV Show.
In its home range, this species is economically important because of its assistance in grasshopper control. The population size of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is listed as stable. It certainly is a welcome and fascinating species to be found occasionally in New Brunswick.
