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Week of July 17, 2000 SCISSOR-TAILED
FLYCATCHER Photograpy:
Bill
Horn - Birdzilla
Senior Staff Photographer Text: From - Life Histories of North American Flycatchers, Larks and Swallows by Arthur Cleveland Bent
Its breeding range extends from southern Nebraska to southernTexas, with casual breeding records in neighboring States. But it has wandered widely beyond this range, as far north as Hudson Bay, as far east as New Brunswick, Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Florida, and as far west as Colorado. The scissor-tailed flycatcher is a bird of the open country. We found it generally distributed in the coastal prairie region of Texas from Corpus Christi to Brownsville, in the trees along the country roadsides, on the open prairies dotted with small trees and mottes, on the mesquite prairies, in the open chaparral country, about the ranches, and even in the small towns. It was often seen sitting on the telephone wires, on fence posts, and on wire fences, quite familiar and unafraid. Spring. A. J. van Rossem (Dickey and van Rossem, 1938) says that in El Salvador "the northward movement starts about April 1. On April 5, 1926, a flight of about 100 birds, strung out with many yards between individual members, was seen passing along the foot- hills near Divisadero. From April 15 to 27, 1926, numbers were seen each evening over the city of San Salvador, flying westward low over the housetops and stopping frequently to perch on flagpoles or tele- phone wires. Fully a hundred were seen each evening, the straggling flocks being often accompanied by other migrating species such as Tyrannus tyran~nua and Petrochelidon. albifrons." Courtship. Herbert Brandt (1940) writes:
This active display is remarkably emphasized by the long, flowing tail that becomes an expressive banner of showmanship, and it is then that one realizes its nuptial significance. That dual appendage, the like of which Is possessed by no other North American bird, adds to every movement the smooth, effortless rhythm of superb body grace; and consequently the aerial ballet of the Scissor-tail Is incomparable in flowing, graceful action and ifirtatious courtship Interpretation. Nesting.The scissor-tailed flycatcher may place its carelessly built nest almost anywhere. George Finlay Simmons (1925) says that its location may be "7 to 30 feet from the ground, generally on a horizontal limb or fork, less commonly in a crotch, in an isolated, open-foliaged hackberry, mesquite, cedar elm, eastern live oak, or hornbeam retama tree, standing alongside a country road, a fencerow, or a quiet city street; in a truck garden; beside a farm house; in pasturelands; or on the edges of scattered woodlands. Occasionally on knolls in the open country, particularly in post oaks, or in peach and other orchard trees; in metal windmill towers; on the crossbars of telegraph poles; in the iron skeletons of aerial light towers in Austin; and in the iron framework of river bridges." While I was waiting one day for my guide to appear at a farm- house, I was amused to see one of these flycatchers attempting to build a nest on the wings of a windmill that was in active use; the location would have been satisfactory if the wings had been stationary, but unfortunately they were never still for any great length of time. Each time that the windmill went into action the nest was destroyed; but the flycatchers were not dismayed, and started each time to rebuild it. This happened several times while I was watching. Mr. Simmons (1925) says of the nest construction: "Roughly built; base and sides composed largely of Indian tobacco weed and small twigs, with some rootlets, weed stems, and cotton, onto which base is built a nest mass of thistledown, cotton, wool, and Indian tobacco, and sometimes cotton waste, corn husks, rags, and twine. Lined with rootlets, horsehair, cotton, or Indian tobacco. * * Outside, diameter 4.50 to 6.25 by 6, height 2.75 to 3. Inside, diameter 2.75 to 3 by 3.50, depth 1.75 to 2.25." Major Bendire (1895) has written quite fully on the nesting habits of these flycatchers, from which I quote: They nest by preference in mesquite trees, less frequently in live and post oaks, the thorny hackberry or granjeno (Oeitis pallida), the huisache (Acacia farnesiana), honey locust, mulberry, pecan, and the magnolia, as well as In various small, thorny shrubs. Their nests are placed at various dIstances of 5 to 40 feet from the ground, but on an average not over 15 feet, and often In very exposed situations, where they can be readily seen. Occasionally, when placed in trees whose limbs are well covered with long streamers of the gray Spanish moss, or in shrubs overgrown with vines, they are rather more difficult to discover. * * * Nests of this species from different localities vary greatly in size and materials from which constructed. The base and sides of the nest are usually composed of small twigs or rootlets, cotton and weed stems (those of a low floccose, woolly annual Eva~ pro /Ucre and Evax ,nulticaulis, the former growing on dry and the latter on low ground, being neariy always present) ; in some sections the gray Spanish moss forms the bulk of the nest, in others raw cotton, and agaIn sheep's wool; while rags, hair, twine, feathers, bits of paper, dry grass, and even seaweeds may be incorporated In the mass. * * ï A nest taken by Dr. E. A. Mearns, United States Army, on April 29, 1893, from an oak tree situated on the edge of the parade ground at Fort Clarke, Texas, Is mainly composed of strong cotton twine, mixed with a few twigs, weed stems, and rags; even the inner lining consists mostly of twine. How the female managed to use this without getting hopelessly entangled Is astonishing. The previous season's nest still remained in the same tree, and a considerable quantity of twine entered also Into Its composition. Eggs. The scissor-tailed flycatcher lays four to six eggs, most commonly five, one egg being laid each day until the set is complete. They are ovate and only slightly glossy. The ground color is clear white, or creamy white, and rarely slightly pinkish white. They are more or less spotted or blotched wit.h dark browns, dark "chestnut brown," "seal brown," or "claret brown," with underlying markings of "heliotrope gray" or shades of "Quaker drab" or "brownish ~ Some eggs are very lightly marked, and some are nearly immaculate. The measurements of 50 eggs average 22.5 by 1,1.0 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 24.1 by 17.8, 23.1 by 19.5, and 20.3 by 15.5 millimeters. Young: Incubation is said to last for 12 or 13 days. Bendire(1895) says: "Incubation lasts about twelve days, and the female appears to perform this duty alone, while the male remains in the vicinty, and promptly chases away every suspicious intruder who may venture too close to the nest. The young are fed exclusivelyon an insect diet, and are able to leave the nest in about two weeks. Both parents assist in their care. In the late summer they congregate in considerable numbers in the cotton fields and open prairies preparatory to their migration south." Plumages.The only nestling that I have seen is fully feathered with the remiges and rectrices about half out of their sheaths, and the whole plumage is soft and fluffy; the soft feathers of the upper parts are dull white, more or less tipped with pale drab on the head and upper back; those of the lower back and rump are tipped for half their length or more with darker drab, darkest and most extensive on the rump and upper tail coverts; the under parts are immaculate, dull white, but are washed with pale drab on the upper breast. This plumage is probably not fully developed; when these feathers are fully grown, perhaps before the bird would leave the nest, their white bases would probably be more fully concealed. Ridgway (1907) describes a young bird, which is evidently in full juvenal plumage, as "somewhat like the paler or duller colored females, but gray of upper parts decidedly brownish (pale drab-gray), the crown darker, and without trace of concealed spot; sides, flanks, abdomen, and under tail-coverts uniform, very pale cream-buff; no orange axillary patch." I have seen birds in this plumage, in which the outer primary is entire, not attentuated as in the adult, as late as December and even January. But, apparently, the postiuvenal molt begins in October, or earlier, and may continue well into January. This molt produces the first winter plumage, which is more like that of the adult, with the outer primary sharply attenuated at the tip, but the back is somewhat browner, the pink on the flanks is duller, and there is still no orange crown patch, or only a trace of it. II have seen birds in fresh, first-winter plumage, taken in Central America in October; and have seen others in this plumage, showing various stages of wear, in March, April, and May. The material seems to indicate that the postjuvenal molt is complete, or nearly so, and that a partial prenuptial molt, late in winter or early in spring, produces a body plumage approaching that of the adult, which is worn until the complete annual molt in late summer or fall. The annual molt of adults apparently occurs in August or September, perhaps even later. Food. Prof. F. E. L. Beal's (1912) report is based on the examination of 129 stomachs of the swallow-tailed flycatcher, taken in every month from April to October, inclusive. The animal food amounted to 96.12 percent and the vegetable food to 3.88 percent of the contents. "Of the animal food beetles amount to 13.74 percent and form a rather constant article of diet. Less than 1 percent belong to theoretically useful families. The others are practically all of harmful species." Bees and wasps account for 12.81 percent and bugs 10.17 percent of the food. He says that flies "do not seem to appeal to this flycatcher as articles of food. They were found in the stomachs taken in April, May, and September only, and amount to but 3.80 percent." Beal continues: Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets) are evidently tile favorite food of the scissortail. They were fonnd in the stomachs of every month, with a good percentage in all except April. The average for the year is 46.07 percent, the highest for any flycatcher. The 1 stomach taken in October contained 86 percent of these insects, but it Is probable that the month of maximum consumption is July, when they amount to over 65 percent. As this hird is said to seldom light upon the ground, it follows that these insects must he captured when they take their short flights or jumps. * * Caterpillars, with a few moths, constitute a small hut rather regular article of diet with the scissortail. They amount to 4.61 percent for the year and were found in the stomachs of every month except October. In several stomachs the cotton leaf worm (Alabama ardlllacea) was identified and the cotton bollworm (Hcliothts obsolcta) in another. noth of these are well-known pests of the cotton plant and also feed upon a number of other cultivated plants. The latter is also well kno~vn as the (torn worm, because it feeds upon the sweet corn of the garden. It also preys upon tomatoes and occasionally upon beans and peas. A few dragon tIles and some other miscellaneous Insects and spIders make the rest of the animal food, 4.92 percent. In his long list of insects identified in the food of this flycatcher, he names 4 species of Hymenoptera, 35 of Coleoptera, 2 of Lepidoptera, 10 of Hemiptera, 6 of Orthoptera, and 2 of Neuroptera. He says further that 'the vegetable food consists of small fruit, or berries. and a few seeds. The total percentage, 3.88, indicates that this is not the favorite kind of food, but is taken for variety. "It needs but little study of the food of the scissor-tailed flycatcher to show that where the bird is abundant it is of much economic value. Its food consists almost entirely of insects, including so few useful species that they may be safely disregarded. Its consumption of grasshoppers is alone sufficient to entitle this bird to complete protection." Fortunately, these birds are enjoying the needed protection and are seldom molested. They seem to be increasing in Texas and are extending their range. Bendire (1895) noted that they were far more common in many parts of Texas at that time than they were 20 years previously. Beal (1912) implied that these flycatchers seldom alighted on the ground, but Samuel N. Rhoads (1892) "observed them for hours gleaning insects in the open pastures and salt flats near Corpus Christi, alighting without hesitation in the short grass to secure or devour their food." Probably many grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets are captured on the ground. This ground feeding may account for the worn appearance of the long tails in summer specimens. Behavior. When first seen sitting on a bush or telephone wire, with its long tail tightly closed and hanging straight down, the scissor- tailed flycatcher impresses one as a trim, neat bird of soft, pleasing colors and quiet mien. Or, as one flies in direct flight from one tree to another, with its long streamers trailing out behind, there is no indication of the flight gymnastics of this aerial acrobat. But, sooner or later, the observer will be treated to an exhibition, ~vell worth watching, which has been so well described by Mrs. Florence Merriam Bailey (1902a) as follows: One of his favorite performances is to fly up and, with rattling wings, execute an aerial seesaw, a line of sharp angled VVVVVVs, helping himself at the short turns by rapidly opening and shutting his long white scissors. As he goes up and dbwn he utters all the while a penetrating bee-bird scream ka-que4~óka~- quedóka~-que4óka-que~óka-qi'e~, the emphasis heing given each time at the topof the ascending line. * * * The head of a family we saw on the Nueces River one day was guarding his mate at the nest when another scissor-tail invaded his preserves. The angry guardian flew at him in fury, chasing him from the field with a loud noise of wings. At the first sound of combat the brooding bird's head appeared above the nest and hopping up on the rim she watched the chase with craned neck till the Intruder with her lord and master close at his heels faded Into white specks In the blue. Another day we saw a scissor-tail in pursuit of an innocent caracara who was accidentally passing through the neighborhood. The slow ungainly caracara was no match for the swift-winged flycatcher and with a dash Milvulus pounced down upon him and actually rode the hawk till they were out of sight. She writes of seeing a scissortail overtake a lark sparrow, which was pursuing an insect on the wing, and snatch the coveted morsel "from under its bill." She and her husband found these flycatchers really abundant in parts of the mesquite prairies of southern Texas. "Near Corpus Christi we once counted thirteen in sight down the road." But the largest number they ever saw together was in an oak mott between Corpus Christi and Brownsville, where these birds were roosting for the night. "At sundown, when Mr. Bailey shot a rattlesnake at the foot of a big oak in camp the report was followed by a roar and rattle in the top of the tree and a great flock of scissortails arose and dispersed in the darkness. They did not all leave the tree, apparently, even then, although some of them may have returned to it, for when daylight came to my surprise a large number of them straggled out of the tree. How one oak top could hold so many birds seemed a mystery. Before the flycatchers dispersed for the day the sky around the mott was alive with them careering around in their usual acrobatic manner making the air vibrate with shrill screams.~~ Mrs. Margaret Morse Nice (1931a) witnessed the pretty picture of a flock of these beautiful birds taking their evening bath; she writes:"On a day in mid September a dozen or more of these lovely birds gathered in the little willows growing in a small pond; one by one they swooped down to the water, but came up without quite touching it. Finally one brave bird splashed its breast into the water, where- upon they all followed suit, sometimes singly, sometimes two or three at a time, darting down quicklyóa sudden dip into the water and then up again. The colors on their sides and under their wings shone pink and salmon and ruby in the late afternoon light. It was a rarely beautiful sightóthe exquisite birds in their fairy-like evolutions." The scissor-tailed flycatcher is a swift flier; its powerful little wings vibrate so rapidly, almost a blur to the human eye, that its stream-lined body is propelled through the air with speed enough to overtake quickly the slower flying hawk or crow that ventures too near its territory; with vicious attacks from the dynamic little warrior the bigintruder is driven from the scene, only too glad to beat a hasty retreat. Voice. Mrs. Bailey (1902a) records the notes uttered during its flight maneuvers as an oft-repeated ka-que.~óka-qu&~. Bendire (1895) writes: "In all its movements on the wing it is extremely graceful and pleasing to the eye, especially when fluttering slowly from tree to tree on the rather open prairie, uttering its twittering notes, which sound like the syllables 'psee-psee' frequently repeated, and which resemble those of the Kingbird, but are neither as loud nor as shrill; again, when chasing each other in play or anger, in swift flight from tree to tree, when it utters a harsh note like 'thish-thish'." Mrs. Nice (1931a) writes: Like the Kinghirds, Crested Flycatcher and Wood Pewee the "Texas Bird of Paradise" has a "twilight song" given before dawn during the nesting season. I have only one record of it, obtained at Cashion June 2, 1929 where a pair of these birds bad a nest containing one egg. At ~i :01 a. m. (26 minutes before sunrise) the male began to shout vuv-vuv-vuv-vup-puv-zuv-verZ~z~ 16 times a minute for about four minutes. Then for three minutes nothing was heard but a few vuz,~. At 5:07 he began with a new note, pup-puv-pup-Verdo, lower and less loud than the first phrase, the number of pups varying from one to three, the most common number being two. A minute later he started to fly about, but kept up a continuous chatter of pup-verdo till 5:12. In further description of the same songs, she says elsewhere (1931b): "He and his mate then flew away, but were back at the nest at 5.18 with loud pupe. At 5.27 just as the sun was rising over the prairie, the female sat on the barbed wire fence with wings held straight out from her body and her tail spread to its fullest extent. Later the male assumed this same attitude, at the same time saying peelyer per. At 5:42 he returned to the nest and gave a last pup-pup-pere$o. * * * The pup-pup-pup-pup-pup-pup-perl~ep was about one second long; the intervals between beginnings of phrases varied from 3.5 to 4 seconds. The ~U~8 were uttered rapidly, giving the effect of a stutter; the emphasis was on the perl~ep." Field marks.There is no excuse for not recognizing a swallow-tailed flycatcher, with its extremely long tail, its soft gray, salmon- pink, white and black colors, offset with a dash of scarlet under the wing. The black upper parts of the fork-tailed flycatcher, and the absence of pink, will distinguish the only other long-tailed flycatcher with which it might possibly be confused. Ememies. The dwarf cowbird sometimes lays its eggs in the nest of this flycatcher (Simmons, 1925). Fall. Early in September the old and young birds begin to gather into flocks and wander about in preparation for migration; by the end of that month most of them have gone from the northern portions of their range. The migration seems to be made mainly during the night. Referring to southeastern Texas, Henry Nehrling (1882) says: "In September, after the breeding season, they gather in large flocks, visiting the cotton fields, where multitudes of cotton worms (Aletia argillacea) and their moths abound, on which they, with many other small birds, eagerly feed; early in October they depart for the South." According to Dr. J. 0. Merrill (1878), "about the middle of October, 1876, just before sunset, a flock of at least one hundred and fifty of these birds passed over the fort [at Brownsville]; they were flying leisurely southward, constantly pausing to catch passing insects; and in the rays of the setting sun their salmon-colored sides seemed bright crimson." In El Salvador, Mr. van Rossem (Dickey and van Rossem, 1938) observed that "the first scissor-tailed flycatchers to arrive in the fall were noted at Divisadero on October 10, 1925, when a single adult female was taken in a dead-topped tree in an old cornfield. On the 17th a few more were observed along telephone wires and over the pastures, but the species remained rare until the 20th, when it suddenly became more common. A good-sized flight of several scores was noted flying southeastward by singles and couples at sunset on the 23rd, and after that date scissor-tailed flycatchers were conspicuous objects in all types of more open country." In Guatemala, "at Ocos the migration was in full swing October fifteenth," according to some notes sent by A. XV. Anthony to Ludlow Griscom (1932). "On that date a stiff gale was blowing from the southeast, against which the migrants were forced to fly. At times the flycatchers were just able to bold their own and, again, seemed to be forced backward. Often such birds, in order to find more favorable air currents, dropped to within a few feet of the ground, others veered inland and tried the shelter of the forest. The flight was still in full force at dusk. The Scissor-tails were still abundant the last of the month." Winter. The scissor-tailed flycatcher spends the winter from south- ern Mexico to Panama. In El Salvador, Mr. van Rossem (Dickey and van Rossem, 1938) calls it a "common, locally abundant, fall and spring migrant and less common winter visitant in the Arid Lower Tropical Zone." In Guatemala, Mr. Griscom (1932) refers to it as "a common transient and winter visitant to all open country below 5,000 feet." Alexander F. Skutch has sent me some notes on this species, in which he says: "In Central America the scissor-tailed flycatcher is most abundant as a winter resident on the dry Pacific side of the isthmus from the Gulf of Nicoya northward. It spreads sparingly over the cleared lands of the central plateau of Costa Rica; and in November 1935 I saw a few as high as 7,500 feet above sea-level in the pasturelands on the south side of the Volcano Irazu. I have never found the bird in the Caribbean lowlands or in heavily forested country. "At Las Canas, Province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica, scores of these lovely, graceful birds slept nightly in some tall orange trees behind the jefatura, or town-ball, in the heart of the village, in company with a far smaller number of Licbtenstein's kingbirds (Tyrannus melancholicus). At or a little before sunset, they were to be seen flying into the village from all directions, high in the air. Soon they began to settle in the tops of the orange trees; but alarmed by the sudden passage of some person beneath them, or seized by a sudden unrest, they would dart swiftly forth again, and circle about in the air before returning to their sleeping-place. At Nicoya, a far smaller number slept in some fig trees with dense foliage which stood in a row along one side of the plaza of the little village. Here also they roosted with Lichtenstein's kiughirds. which here seemed to outnumber them. Although so gregarious in their roasts, by day they do not flock, but spread out over the surrounding country one by one."
Range. South-central United States south to Panama; accidental north to Manitoba and New Brunswick and west to California. Breeding range. The scissor-tailed flycatcher breeds north to northwestern Oklahoma (Kenton); and southern Kansas (Haper,Wichita, and Independence). East to southeastern Kansas (Independence) ; eastern Oklahoma (Copan, Tulsa, and Okmulgee); western Arkansas (Fort Smith); and eastern Texas (Commerce, Waco, and Houston). South to southern Texas (Houston, Brownsville, Uvalde, and Pecos). West to western Texas (Pecos); southeastern New Mexico (Malaga, Carlsbad, and Lovington); and western Oklahoma (Kenton). Winter range. In winter the species is found north to extreme southern Texas (Brownsville, rarely Rio Grande, and Port Lavaca); hence south through eastern Mexico, Puebla (Huehuetlan); western Chiapas (Tapachula and San Benito); western Guatemala (Lake Atitlan and San Jose); El Salvador (Cotima and Puerto del Tnunfo); Costa Rica (Miravallas, Bagaces, Tambor, and San Jose); to Panama (Chiriqui). Spring migration. Early dates of spring arrivs~l are: TexasóVictoria, March 10; Houston, March 23. OklahomaóNorman, April 3. KansasóHarper, April 5. Fall migration. Late dates of fall departure, are: Kansas Harper, October 24. OklahomaóNorman, October 23. Texasó Abilene, October 16; Atascosa County, October 27; Pecos, November 20. Casual records. This flycatcher has been recorded outside of its normal range on many occasions. Among these are the following: Florida, a specimen was taken at Tulford on December 14, 1924, while three were seen on January 18, 1919, and four on November iS, 1930, at Key West; Georgia, a specimen was collected at Quarantine on June 5, 1933; South Carolina, one was seen on November 6, 1928, on Edisto Island, and a specimen was collected on July 16, 1930, at St. Matthews; Virginia, one was taken at Norfolk, on January 2, 1882, and one was reported from Aylett on August 31, 1895; New Jersey, a specimen was obtained near Trenton on April 15, 1872; Connecticut, one was taken at Wauregan on April 27, 1876; Massachusetts, at West Springfield one was collected on April 29, 1933; Vermont, one was taken at St.. Jolinshury apparently in 1884; New Brunswick, an adult female was obtained on Grand Manan on October 26, 1924, and another was taken at Clarendon Station on May 21, 1906; Alabama, one was obtained at Autaugaville in the spring of 1889 or 1890; Louisiana, a flock of 10 was seen at Kenner on October 6, 1889, and three specimens were taken at Grand Isle, on April 6 and 10, 1926, and April 2, 1927, while one was collected at Wisner, on April 10, 1933; Ohio, a specimen was taken at Marietta on May 20, 1894; Nebraska, one was reported as seen near Lincoln in the fall of 1872, another was reported as seen near Greenwood in the spring of 1913, while a third actually built two nests near Lincoln in May and June 1921; Wisconsin, an adult male was collected at Milton on October 1, 1895; Minnesota, one was taken at New London some time prior to 1912, and one was seen in Jackson County on June 5, 1930; Manitoba, at York Factory a specimen was taken in the summer of 1880, and another on October 2, 1924, while one was found dead at Portage la Prairie, on October 20, 1884; Colorado, two females were taken at Campo, Baca County, on May 31 and June 1, 1923; Arizona, one was collected at Kayenta on July 8, 1934, and another was seen at Sahuaro Lake, on the Salt River, Maricopa County, on July 12, 1935; California, a specimen was obtained at Elizabeth Lake, Los Angeles County, on June 26, 1915. Egg dates. Oklahoma: 6 records, June 4 to 22. Texas: 116 records, April 7 to July 26; 58 records, May 9 to June 10, indicating the height of the season. |
