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Oklahoma State Bird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
- Official Oklahoma State Bird: Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher
- Family: Tyrannidae, Tyrant Flycatcher
- Scientific Name: Tyrannus forficatus
- Length: 13" (33 cm)
- Diet: Insects, berries
- Voice:
Listen to Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Calls (recorded by Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
Song lower pitched and flatter than Western
Kingbird, with slightly different pattern pidik pek pik pik pidEEK.
Dawn song pup pup pup pup pup perek. Common call a
relatively low, flat pik; lower than Western Kingbird. Also
pik-prrr or kopik or higher, sharper kid.
- Habitat: Semi-open country, ranches, farms,
roadsides.
- Displays: Male performs dramatic up-down and zigzag
courtship flight, with cackling-snapping call; may end with reverse
somersaults. Flowing tail well displayed.
- Number of broods: 1
- Nest: Usually on horizontal limb, occasionally in
fork or crotch, low in tree or shrub, also on human-built structure;
roughly built of twigs, rootlets, weed stems, moss, plant down,
occasionally feathers, hair. Built in 2-4 days.
- Eggs: Averages 3-5 white, creamy, pinkish eggs,
lightly mottled with red, brown, gray, olive. 0.9" (23 mm).
- Incubation period: 14-17 days
- Fledge: 14-16 days after hatching
- Longevity Record: No data available according to USGS
Bird Banding Lab.
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher became the Oklahoma State Bird under House Joint
Resolution Number 21, signed into law on May 26, 1951. Despite a failed first
attempt to make the bird the official symbol, the scissor-tail was eventually
chosen for its diet of harmful insects, its Oklahoma-centered nesting range, and
by the fortunate circumstance that no other state had designated it.
The successful push for the Scissor-tail Flycatcher to be the State
Bird by the state's Audubon Society, garden
clubs, and other wildlife supporters culminated with the backing of Lou Allard,
chairman of the House of Representatives' Committee on Game and Fish. The
scissor-tail defeated other contenders for the title, notably the bobwhite
(quail), which
had won a 1932 State Federation of Women's Clubs-sponsored contest.
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