Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

The scissor-tailed flycatcher is long tailed tyrant flycatcher. They are a member of the Tyrannus, or kingbird genus. They breed in the south central United States, including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas as well as parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, New Mexico and northern Mexico.

Even though much of their breeding territory has warm temperatures year round, the scissor-tailed flycatchers migrate south each winter down into southern Mexico and Central America. Prior to migrating they often gather in premigratory flocks of up to 1000 birds 

  As with most kingbirds the scissor-tailed flycatcher primarily eats insects. They catch their prey by hawking,  flying off from a perch to catch a flying insect in the air, or gleaning them from branches. Although they are a flycatcher they feed mainly on grasshoppers, dragonflies and robber-flies. On their wintering grounds they may also eat some fruit.

Scissor-tailed fly catchers are extremely territorial while breeding and will often go after larger birds such as hawks, owls, and crows that enter their territory. They are also the state bird of Oklahoma.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

The scissor-tailed flycatcher is a bird that nests in the south central United States and northern Mexico and winter in Central America. They prefer to nest in savannah habitat with few trees and scrub. They may also nest in area inhabited by people, such as farms, parks, or golf courses. In these areas they often materials discarded by people when constructing their nests. As a flycatcher, most closely related to kingbirds, scissor-tails eat primarily insects. 

Santa Ana NWR

The only day that we did not have nice weather while we were in Texas was the day that we visited the Santa Ana NWR. This was too bad because Santa Ana is one of the most diverse refuges in the United States. Located at the most southern stretch of the Rio Grande River the park was established in 1943 to help protect migrating birds. The 2088 acres are comprised of a variety of different habitats, including subtropical, Gulf coast, Great Plains, and Chihuahuan desert, where you can find over 400 species of birds as well as almost half the species of butterflies in North America.

Despite the overcast skies and the misty rain that was falling off and on I decided to join a bird hike that was leaving the visitors center shortly after we arrived at the park. During the walk we spotted quite a few different types of birds. Unfortunately the light was not very good so I was not able to get good pics of everything. I did get some nice shots of a ladder-backed woodpecker.

The main bird that I was hoping to see in Santa Ana was the green kingfisher, I had been looking for these through our whole trip. Unfortunately I did not have any luck with the green kingfisher, even though I ran into several people who had seen them in the park that morning, I did however manage to snap a couple of pics of a scissor-tailed flycatcher which was a life bird for me.

After the bird hike I decided to head over to the Treetop Observation Tower. The tower opened back in 2006 it has two different platforms with the upper platform at around 40 feet. In front of the tower is the Canopy Rope Bridge. This 100 foot long bridge is suspended 25 feet above the ground which is height of many of the surrounding trees.

Both the tower and the rope bridge let visitors get a better look at some of the birds who spend most of their time at the tops of the trees. Birds like the vermilion flycatcher, above, spend about 90% of their time perched at the top of the trees where they hunt for flying insects. They are found mostly in Mexico and South America but the northern part of their range extends into south Texas and the other southwestern states of the United States. This was another lifer for me. While I was walking around the park chasing birds in the rain Michelle decided to stay dry while seeing the park by taking a tour on the Interpretive Tram. While on the tram tours she had a very exciting sighting, her first wild cat. This bobcat came out of the brush and walked down the road in front of the tram. The pictures where not that great, since she had to take the shots through the trams windshield, but I was glad that she got to see a bobcat because she was not with me a few days earlier when I saw my first wild bobcat at Bentsen State Park.

Note: This morning when I did this post I was not quite awake and I mixed up my vermilion flycatcher with a scarlet tanager. Even though they have similar coloration it was a stupid mistake because I was very excited when we photographed the VC because it was a life bird. Thanks to Fishing Guy, who caught the mistake, I have corrected the post so that I do not pass on any more bad information. I apologize for my error and will try in the future to get more sleep before I post.