[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher behavior



We visited the nesting Scissor-tailed Flycatchers near Monroe, NC Saturday
morning (8 July) and observed them between 10-11 AM, from near the little
cemetery.  Both adults attended the nest throughout the hour, but with most
feeding visits by the female.  (The sexes were easily distinguishable by
tail length, the male appearing whiter and brighter than the female.)  When
leaving the nest site after a feeding,  the adults would sometimes leave
together, remaining about a foot apart as they flew high and far across the
fields and out of sight against the distant trees.  At other times the two
separated to forage in opposite directions.  The male perched anywhere in
the nest tower from the bottom-most crossbars to the uppermost, on lower
telephone/powerlines, on isolated small trees in the pasture fencelines, and
on distant treetops.   The female, away from the nest tower, seemed to favor
lower perches, repeatedly using the fence wires and even once hopping around
on a patch of bare ground, apparently catching insects on the dirt.
Interactions observed between the flycatchers and other bird species
included N. Mockingbird (two mockingbirds joined male Scissor-tail in
lengthy, fluttering insect pursuit low over grass near base of nest tower);
and Loggerhead Shrike (shrike briefly chased flycatcher); Bluejay (jay
chased & usurped male flycatcher's treetop perch); and, most spectacularly,
Red-tailed Hawk (both Scissor-tails left the nest tower to fly directly
toward a circling adult Red-tailed Hawk about a quarter mile away where the
flycatchers took turns dive-bombing the hawk for several minutes,
occasionally alighting with momentarily folded wings on the hawk's back.)

Thanks to everyone who has reported and updated on these birds. It's worth
the drive for anyone who hasn't gone yet.

Tim & Melanie Kalbach
Columbia, SC
grebe@mindspring.com