Best Wildlife Photos of 2016: Scissor Tailed Flycatcher

Here is a rarity to Arizona, whose normal territory is Texas in the US. It is quite an attractive bird with its long "scissor-like" tail.  I was very pleased with the photo, especially how the out-of-focus green background made the bird stand out:

Scissor Tailed Flycatcher

Birds on a Wire: Scissor Tailed Flycatcher

Many flycatchers like wires too. It provides them with visibility and a perch to "snatch" insects that fly by. They'll sit on telephone wires, but also fence posts and barbed wires.

The Scissor Tailed Flycatcher is no exception. The STF prefers open country such as ranches, farms, or desert grasslands with scattered trees. It's range is essentially Texas in the summer and the tropics in the winter with occasional reaches into Southern Arizona during those summer months. It can be more easily found along the road where there are telephone poles/lines and fences. 

Scissor Tailed Flycatcher on Fence Post

New Photos: Scissor Tailed Flycatcher

Another trip back to the Sierra Vista EOP (on Moson Road) found the same Scissor Tailed Flycatcher which is rare outside of Texas and Oklahoma:

Scissor Tailed Flycatcher

Scissor Tailed Flycatcher

Scissor Tailed Flycatcher

Had a chance yesterday to go looking for the Scissor Tailed Flycatcher that's been seen along Moson Road in Sierra Vista, Arizona.

The STF is summer visitor to semi-open country ranches and farmlands with scattered trees in Texas and Oklahoma, with rare sightings elsewhere. And such is the case with this one here in Arizona. It is often seen resting on roadside fences and wires.  In fact, when I first spotted him he was sitting on a barbed wire fence along with three Western Kingbirds. 

As such it was hard to distinguish it from them at first. Only until it flew away showing off its salmon color under its wings and the long tail streamers flaring wide behind it was I sure of its identity. 

It feeds most on insects including grasshoppers, beetles, wasps, bees, bugs, flies, caterpillars, and moths. It typically perches in trees, fence posts, or shrubs striking out to capture prey that flies by. It sometimes will hover near the ground and pick up insects. 

Here are several photos showing the different perches it used yesterday:

Scissor Tailed Flycatcher on Fence with Western Kingbirds

Scissor Tailed Flycatcher on Fence Post

Scissor Tailed Flycatcher on Shrub near the Ground

Scissor Tailed Flycatcher in Cypress Tree