I was showing a really great property yesterday up in Frisco, a property in a subdivision where all the lots are acreage. Each house had lots of pasture land and trees, plenty of cover for wildlife and birds. Driving back, I spotted the first Sissortail Flycatcher of the season. For me, seeing one means that summer is on its way. Sissortails spend their winter down in Central and South America, summering in Texas, Oklahoma and parts of Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scissor-tailed_Flycatcher/lifehistory
Oklahoma claims them as their state bird. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/okscisso/index.htm
They are easy to identify in the field. That tail is distinctive. In fact, Sisortails were either the first or second bird I learned to identify as a very small child. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scissor-tailed_Flycatcher Seeing on sitting on a telephone wire, that tail is almost impossible to miss. When they fly, they have a way of hoovering that just makes me hold my breath.
They are back for the summer! Let me know if you spot one, too!
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