Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher

Tyrannus forficatus

Also known as: Scissor-Tailed Kingbird, Swallow-Tailed Flycatcher

About This Species

This striking flycatcher favors open grassland and savanna in the south-central United States, where it perches conspicuously on fences and wires before sallying after flying insects, its long forked tail streaming behind. Breeding season brings elaborate aerial courtship displays, best watched in open pastureland in late spring. Before migrating to Central America, large numbers gather at communal roosts in early fall, offering a dramatic spectacle at dusk.

Ethical Viewing Guidelines

Because it favors exposed perches, good views are usually possible from a vehicle or at a modest distance without approaching directly, which also reduces the chance of flushing it from a nest tree or fence line.
Communal fall roosts can hold hundreds of birds and are best watched from a distance that does not cause repeated flushing.
As a migratory species crossing multiple countries, it is covered by general migratory bird protections, though specific rules and enforcement vary between the US, Mexico, and Central America.

LCAvesPasseriformesTyrannidae

Seasonal Activity

726,780 sightings · 2000–2026

Citizen science records via GBIF

All monthsThis month

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Tyrannidae

Photo

Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons

CC-BY-SA-4.0

Occurrence data from GBIF.