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Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
[Tyrannus forficatus]
[Length 10 (Juv) to 15 (Male) in. Wingspan 15 in.]
Scissor-tailed Flycatchers get their name from the long, narrow tail feathers which trail behind them like streamers.
They perch in conspicuous places such as on telephone and fence wires, from which they quickly dart out after their insect prey.
They are handsome birds, with black wings, black tail feathers with white outer feathers, pearl-gray heads and breasts, and a salmon wash along the sides.
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is the state bird of Oklahoma.
It is a common bird of the plains and grasslands there, as well as Texas to the south, Kansas and southern Nebraska to the north, and eastern Colorado and New Mexico to the west.
This one was photographed as a fall vagrant in central New Jersey, USA.
Photo taken with a 300mm f4.5 Nikkor ED lens on Kodachrome 64.
(Date: October 1984)
(use image name "sciss1" for inquiries)
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