Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher
Tyrannus forficatus
In 2003, I found an immature, out of place Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher on the central California coast at Piedras Blancas beach while photographing newborn Northern Elephant Seals. Word got out quickly about this California rarity. Folks came from far and wide to see it. I donated an image to Cal Poly as a contribution for the scientific record. Seventeen years later, in 2020, I met these birds in the native range in south Texas.
Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are monotypic, meaning there are no recognised subspecies.
After wintering in southern Mexico and Central America, these birds fly north to breed each spring, where their range includes all of Texas, east to the Mississippi River and north through Kansas. Basically, the south midwestern USA is its summer home.
I remember meeting my first Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher in Texas. It was March 20, 2020, and after staying a week in Aransas NWR, Rockport, and Corpus Christi, I was driving south on Highway 77 headed for Brownsville to explore the Lower Rio Grande Valley, and find out if all the amazing stories about birding there were true. I spotted the flycatcher on a fence-line and pulled off the highway to attempt photographing the showy bird. The images I captured that day were OK. Still, I felt I didn’t do justice to the bird.
The next day, the Covid-19 crisis shut down almost every birding venue in the region. I settled into an RV park to lie low for a while and discovered Laguna Atascosa NWR was the only reserve with its gates open. While on a visit there, I was befriended by a game enforcement officer who suggested Palmito Hill as a destination I should explore. It was there I captured my favorite images of Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers.
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
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Description: A California Rarity. Piedras Blancas, on the Coast of Central California. |
Date Taken: 2003:12:20 15:55 |
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Location:
Piedras Blancas |
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Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 280 mm, f/6.0, 1/160 |
File Name: JCD_5604ScissorTailedFlycatcher |
| © 2003 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: A California Rarity. Piedras Blancas, on the Coast of Central California. |
Date Taken: 2003:12:20 15:55 |
|
Location:
Piedras Blancas |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 280 mm, f/6.0, 1/160 |
File Name: JCD_5605ScissorTailedFlycatcher |
| © 2003 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: A California Rarity. Piedras Blancas, on the Coast of Central California. |
Date Taken: 2003:12:20 15:56 |
|
Location:
Piedras Blancas |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 280 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 |
File Name: JCD_5613ScissorTailedFlycatcher |
| © 2003 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: It was a Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher that caught my eye, so I stopped beside the highway on my drive to Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on the South Texas Coast on Friday and spent the afternoon meeting birds. |
Date Taken: 2020:03:20 8:47 |
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Location:
Riviera |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/6.3, 1/1000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D506092-Sarita-TX |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: It was a Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher that caught my eye, so I stopped beside the highway on my drive to Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on the South Texas Coast on Friday and spent the afternoon meeting birds. |
Date Taken: 2020:03:20 8:47 |
|
Location:
Riviera |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/6.3, 1/800 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D506095-Sarita-TX |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: It was a Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher that caught my eye, so I stopped beside the highway on my drive to Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on the South Texas Coast on Friday and spent the afternoon meeting birds. |
Date Taken: 2020:03:20 8:48 |
|
Location:
Riviera |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/6.3, 1/1600 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D506112-Sarita-TX |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: At Atascosa, the Scissor-Tailied Flycatchers I met allowed me closer encounters than my previous meetings. Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on the South Texas Coast. |
Date Taken: 2020:03:20 15:34 |
|
Location:
Laguna Atscosa NWR |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/6.3, 1/5000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D507007-LagunaAtascosa |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: At Atascosa, the Scissor-Tailied Flycatchers I met allowed me closer encounters than my previous meetings. Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on the South Texas Coast. |
Date Taken: 2020:03:20 15:38 |
|
Location:
Laguna Atscosa NWR |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/6.3, 1/1000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D507110-LagunaAtascosa |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: At Atascosa, the Scissor-Tailied Flycatchers I met allowed me closer encounters than my previous meetings. Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on the South Texas Coast. |
Date Taken: 2020:03:20 15:39 |
|
Location:
Laguna Atscosa NWR |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/6.3, 1/1000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D507123-LagunaAtascosa |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: At Atascosa, the Scissor-Tailied Flycatchers I met allowed me closer encounters than my previous meetings. Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on the South Texas Coast. |
Date Taken: 2020:03:20 15:39 |
|
Location:
Laguna Atscosa NWR |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/6.3, 1/1000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D507149-LagunaAtascosa |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: At Atascosa, the Scissor-Tailied Flycatchers I met allowed me closer encounters than my previous meetings. Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on the South Texas Coast. |
Date Taken: 2020:03:20 15:40 |
|
Location:
Laguna Atscosa NWR |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/6.3, 1/1000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D507164-LagunaAtascosa |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: At Atascosa, the Scissor-Tailied Flycatchers I met allowed me closer encounters than my previous meetings. Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on the South Texas Coast. |
Date Taken: 2020:03:20 15:40 |
|
Location:
Laguna Atscosa NWR |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/6.3, 1/1000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D507190-LagunaAtascosa |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: At Atascosa, the Scissor-Tailied Flycatchers I met allowed me closer encounters than my previous meetings. Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on the South Texas Coast. |
Date Taken: 2020:03:20 15:42 |
|
Location:
Laguna Atscosa NWR |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/6.3, 1/5000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D507198-LagunaAtascosa |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are a compelling subject for me. I don’t think I could ever tire of watching and photographing them. A week prior to this day I discovered the birds at the site of the last Civil War battle, a place called Palmito Hill, Texas. I thought it might be a good idea to revisit it on this Sunday morning. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:03 8:20 |
|
Location:
Palmito Hill |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 400 mm, f/6.3, 1/2000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D503025-Palmito-Hill-TX |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are a compelling subject for me. I don’t think I could ever tire of watching and photographing them. A week prior to this day I discovered the birds at the site of the last Civil War battle, a place called Palmito Hill, Texas. I thought it might be a good idea to revisit it on this Sunday morning. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:03 8:24 |
|
Location:
Palmito Hill |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/3200 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D503055-Palmito-Hill-TX |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are a compelling subject for me. I don’t think I could ever tire of watching and photographing them. A week prior to this day I discovered the birds at the site of the last Civil War battle, a place called Palmito Hill, Texas. I thought it might be a good idea to revisit it on this Sunday morning. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:03 8:24 |
|
Location:
Palmito Hill |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/3200 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D503059-Palmito-Hill-TX |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are a compelling subject for me. I don’t think I could ever tire of watching and photographing them. The open grassy bottom land at the site of the last battle of the Civil War called Palmito Hill, near Brownsville Texas, was a peaceful location to meet Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers and Eastern Meadowlarks. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:04 9:17 |
|
Location:
Palmito Hill |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1600 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D503476-Palmito-Hill |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: I found some nice birds at a roadside rest area about one hour east of Fort Stockton Texas to break the monotony of the I-10 freeway. I was surprised how many birds I found. There were 3 oriole species, 3 flycatcher species, and cactus wrens. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:09 18:11 |
|
Location:
East Pecos County Rest Area |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D505506-EastPecosCounty |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: Midway between Brownsville and Boca Chica Beach in south Texas is Palmito Hill Ranch, the site of the last battle of the Civil War. Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are always fun to meet, and several pairs made their summer homes on these grounds. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:27 9:32 |
|
Location:
Palmito Hill |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1600 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D508871-Palmito-Hill-TX |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: Midway between Brownsville and Boca Chica Beach in south Texas is Palmito Hill Ranch, the site of the last battle of the Civil War. Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are always fun to meet, and several pairs made their summer homes on these grounds. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:27 9:35 |
|
Location:
Palmito Hill |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1250 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D508942-Palmito-Hill-TX |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: Midway between Brownsville and Boca Chica Beach in south Texas is Palmito Hill Ranch, the site of the last battle of the Civil War. Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are always fun to meet, and several pairs made their summer homes on these grounds. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:27 9:35 |
|
Location:
Palmito Hill |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D508972-Palmito-Hill-TX |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: Midway between Brownsville and Boca Chica Beach in south Texas is Palmito Hill Ranch, the site of the last battle of the Civil War. Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are always fun to meet, and several pairs made their summer homes on these grounds. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:27 9:35 |
|
Location:
Palmito Hill |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D508983-Palmito-Hill-TX |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: Midway between Brownsville and Boca Chica Beach in south Texas is Palmito Hill Ranch, the site of the last battle of the Civil War. Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are always fun to meet, and several pairs made their summer homes on these grounds. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:27 9:36 |
|
Location:
Palmito Hill |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D508993-Palmito-Hill-TX |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: Midway between Brownsville and Boca Chica Beach in south Texas is Palmito Hill Ranch, the site of the last battle of the Civil War. Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are always fun to meet, and several pairs made their summer homes on these grounds. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:27 9:36 |
|
Location:
Palmito Hill |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1250 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D509009-Palmito-Hill-TX |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: Midway between Brownsville and Boca Chica Beach in south Texas is Palmito Hill Ranch, the site of the last battle of the Civil War. Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are always fun to meet, and several pairs made their summer homes on these grounds. |
Date Taken: 2020:04:27 9:36 |
|
Location:
Palmito Hill |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1250 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D509024-Palmito-Hill-TX |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are a compelling subject for me. I don’t think I could ever tire of watching and photographing them. A week prior to this day I discovered the birds at the site of the last Civil War battle, a place called Palmito Hill, Texas. I thought it might be a good idea to revisit it on this Sunday morning. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:03 8:21 |
|
Location:
Palmito Hill |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 400 mm, f/6.3, 1/2000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D503030-Palmito-Hill-TX |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: At Atascosa, the Scissor-Tailied Flycatchers I met allowed me closer encounters than my previous meetings. Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge on the South Texas Coast. |
Date Taken: 2020:03:20 15:39 |
|
Location:
Laguna Atscosa NWR |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 550 mm, f/6.3, 1/1000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D507127-LagunaAtascosa |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: I’ve had closer encounters with this species, but today these distant views were all they would give me. It was a bright Sunday on South Padre Island, and I stayed over 9 hours. I started the morning with an hour at Sheepshead Sanctuary and drove to the Convention Centre for the rest of the day, and met a couple of birds new to me. |
Date Taken: 2021:05:02 12:35 |
|
Location:
Convention Center |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/3000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D5X4848_SPI-ConventionCtr |
| © 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: I’ve had closer encounters with this species, but today these distant views were all they would give me. It was a bright Sunday on South Padre Island, and I stayed over 9 hours. I started the morning with an hour at Sheepshead Sanctuary and drove to the Convention Centre for the rest of the day, and met a couple of birds new to me. |
Date Taken: 2021:05:02 12:35 |
|
Location:
Convention Center |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/3000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D5X4852_SPI-ConventionCtr |
| © 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers nest in south Texas, but others breed as far north as southeastern Nebraska, then return to southern Mexico and Central America for the winter season. The birds we saw during our late afternoon boating expedition on the Rio Grande, might have come from further north. |
Date Taken: 2022:09:25 17:08 |
|
Location:
Rio Grande River Ride |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 550 mm, f/8.0, 1/8000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_8506605-RioGrandeBoatRide |
| © 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Eastern Meadowlark(Sturnella magna) |
|
Description: Seen here with a Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher, Eastern Meadowlarks are best distinguished from their western cousin by their softer song. The open grassy bottom land at the site of the last battle of the Civil War called Palmito Hill, near Brownsville Texas, was a peaceful location to meet Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers and Eastern Meadowlarks. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:04 9:15 |
|
Location:
Palmito Hill |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1250 |
File Name: EasternMeadowLarkScissorTailedFlycatcher_D503465-Palmito-Hill-1 |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher(Tyrannus forficatus) |
|
Description: I found some nice birds at a roadside rest area about one hour east of Fort Stockton Texas to break the monotony of the I-10 freeway. I was surprised how many birds I found. There were 3 oriole species, 3 flycatcher species, and cactus wrens. |
Date Taken: 2020:05:09 18:11 |
|
Location:
East Pecos County Rest Area |
|
Camera Information: NIKON D500, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: ScissorTailedFlycatcher_D505495-EastPecosCounty |
| © 2020 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
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