Scissor-tailed Flycatcher State Birds (week 5)

The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is the Oklahoma state bird and for good reason; it is most common in a rather limited area and one of those states is Oklahoma. I took this photo at a state park in the middle of Oklahoma on the way home from Texas. 


The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is about 14 inches long and almost half of that is a very long black and white, deeply forked or "scissored-tail". Scissor-tails feed almost entirely on insects and to a lesser extent berries. They consume a lot of grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, and other ground-dwelling insects making them popular with farmers and ranchers. They can be found in open and semi-open country, roadsides. Often seen perched on utility wires, fences and stop signs at state parks in the middle of Oklahoma, (where people often see them on their way home to Wisconsin from Texas). 

Not a great photo but you can see the "scissor"

For more info check out:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scissor-tailed_Flycatcher/id


The song sounds a little bit like a squeaker toy; check it out at:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scissor-tailed_Flycatcher/sounds