Owner Comments:
Another nice silver proof State Quarter brings us another fascinating and beautiful modern dinosaur. This is the Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher, species name Tyrannus forficatus, the State Bird of Oklahoma.
Even though this guy is the State Bird of Oklahoma, I couldn’t find a ton of information on him, so this will be a shorter write up, as has been the case with some others in this set. The Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher is a member of a group called Kingbirds. Adults of this species have pale gray heads and upper parts, light underparts, salmon-pink flanks and dark grey wings with red patches on the undersides of the wings. The scissor-tail, this species most distinctive feature, is black on the top and white on the bottom. There is sexual dimorphism in this species as the tail streamers of males are up to 30% longer than those of the females. Juveniles of this species are duller in coloration and have shorter tails. Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are about 15 inches long, with a wingspan of 5.9 inches and a weight of 1.5 ounces.
Range-wise, Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers can be found in open country in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, western Louisiana, western Arkansas, western Missouri, eastern New Mexico and northern Mexico. This species has also been seen as a vagrant in Florida, Georgia and southern Canada.
As their name implies, Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are predators of a variety of insects, which they catch in mid-air while in flight. While they are mostly carnivorous, Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers will consume berries in the winter as their main prey becomes scarce.
Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers are monogamous only for a single breeding season. Males attract females through complex aerial displays. Once a pair bond is formed, the females begins to build a nest, escorted by the male. Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers will nest in bushes and shrubs, but they often use artificial, human made structures such as telephone poles and abandoned buildings. The nest is cup shaped and made of plant materials. Once the nest is constructed, between 3 and 6 eggs are produced. The eggs for this species are white or creamy with dark red, reddish brown, or purple blotches. The female incubates the eggs for between 13-23 days, after which they hatch. The babies are born helpless and naked aside from some sparse white down. Both parents feed and care for the babies until they leave the nest at between 14-16 days after hatching. Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers can live for between 10 and 15 years.
Despite their small size, Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers have little predation. This is where their Generic name, Tyrannus, which is so similar to their much larger and more famous extinct relative Tyrannosaurus Rex, comes from. Tyrannus means “Tyrant-like” and this name was given to their genus because of the extremely aggressive behaviors of this little dinosaur and its relatives. Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers can fight off almost any threat with their vicious attacks. They have been seen successfully fighting off corvids, owls, hawks and many other predators. This aggression is a large part of why Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers live so much longer than many other birds in their size range as predation is not really a concern for them. Most predators will choose to go after much easier to handle prey if it is available.