# Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

*Tyrannus forficatus*

The scissor-like tail isn't just for show; it acts as a high-performance rudder, allowing for extreme maneuverability and sudden mid-air stalls.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Passeriformes › Tyrannidae › Tyrannus
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** grassland
- **Habitat:** Open grasslands, savannas, and agricultural fields with scattered trees, shrubs, or utility lines for perching.
- **Diet:** Primarily insectivorous, specializing in grasshoppers, beetles, bees, and wasps caught during mid-air sorties.
- **Range:** Southern Great Plains (USA), Mexico, Central America
- **Size:** 11.5 to 15 inches in length, with the tail often making up more than half of the bird's total length.
- **Lifespan:** 10 to 15 years
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Pesticide use reducing insect prey availability and the removal of nesting trees in open landscapes.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless and a delight to watch. These birds are territorial during nesting; if they dive-bomb, you are too close to their young. Maintain a 20-foot distance. They pose no medical risk to humans.

## About

The scissor-tailed flycatcher ( Tyrannus forficatus ), also known as the Texas bird-of-paradise and swallow-tailed flycatcher , is a long-tailed bird of the genus Tyrannus , whose members are collectively referred to as kingbirds. The kingbirds are a group of large insectivorous (insect-eating) birds in the tyrant flycatcher (Tyrannidae) family. The scissor-tailed flycatcher is found in North and Central America.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/c6ccb249-6566-49a6-b9db-81df281b22a4
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/16783
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrannus forficatus
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/667610263/medium.jpg (Brooke J., CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.