May 16, 2021 - Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

About a week ago, I saw a report that said this Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was being seen near the town of Jacobson, Minnesota. I was at our lake home, and Jacobson is on one of the routes I can take back to the Twin Cities. So, of course, I had to stop by and see it.

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This flight shot shows that the bird has a “regular length” tail but also has outer tail feathers that extend far beyond the other tail feathers. The normal range for this bird is in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arkansas, so you can see it is not expected in Minnesota.

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My field guide lists the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher as 15 inches long. As you can see, the tail makes up over half that length.

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The Flycatcher, true to its name, did some flycatching while I was there. In this case, it caught a dragonfly.

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The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is the state bird of Oklahoma.

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When the Flycatcher raised its wings, the salmon-colored patches in its “arm pits” were on full display. That raises the question – why would such colorful patches be in a place where they are rarely seen?

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This posting was supposed to be all about the Flycatcher. However, just yesterday, a Wilson’s Plover was seen at Park Point in Duluth, Minnesota. That’s a little off my route to the Twin Cities but well worth the detour. It’s a small shorebird, about 7¾ inches long. This bird is even less likely to be seen in Minnesota because its United States range is right along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. It is rarely seen inland. I searched the Minnesota Ornithologists Union database and found only three other Wilson’s Plover reports. One each in 1981, 1982, and 2013. All were seen at Park Point.

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