Oklahoma's State Bird, The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Jun 28, 2010
Bob Bowers

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Oklahoma State Bird - Bob Bowers

One of only twenty states that don't share an official state bird, Oklahoma made a good choice by selecting the eye-catching Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.

With some 600 species of birds in the United States to choose from, one would think that each state would have made a unique choice for state bird. To the contrary, most states share their officially designated bird with at least one other state.

Official State Birds of the Fifty United States

One hundred and thirty nine years after Delaware became the first state to ratify the constitution, Kentucky became the first state to adopt a bird as an official state symbol. Kentucky's selection, on February 26, 1926, was the Northern Cardinal. Kentucky's choice proved to be the most popular state bird, with six other states (five of them bordering Kentucky) also naming the Cardinal over the following 24 years.

By the time all 50 current states had selected official birds, the majority (30 states) had chosen birds also named by other states. Just eight birds are shared by these thirty states, and, in addition to the Northern Cardinal, they include the Western Meadowlark, Northern Mockingbird, American Robin, American Goldfinch, Mountain and Eastern Bluebirds and the Black-capped Chickadee.

Twenty states stand alone with their choices, which range from New Mexico's Greater Roadrunner to Alaska's Willow Ptarmigan, and even including two chickens, one in Delaware and the other in Rhode Island. Having been the only state to select the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Oklahoma also belongs to this select group.

Oklahoma's Choice for State Bird

Oklahoma lies in the south central part of the United States, and combines eastern forests with sweeping plains. Nearly four million Oklahomans reside in a sprawling area of 69,898 square miles. In the 1800s, thousands of Native Americans were relocated to the area which is now Oklahoma, and the state's name is derived from two Choctaw words which mean "red people", okla and humma.

During the early to mid twentieth century, the Federation of Women's Clubs were the dominating influence in the selection of official state birds. Oklahoma's Federation of Women's Clubs, as was the case in many other states, sponsored a contest in 1932 to find a state bird. The most popular bird in that contest was the Bobwhite, but the state legislature did not take action. Much later, the effort to name a state bird was renewed, and the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher quickly became a popular choice for school children, garden clubs and wildlife groups, including the Oklahoma Audubon Society. The Chairman of the House Committee on Game and Fish, Lou Allard, also supported the flycatcher, leading to House Joint Resolution No. 21, which adopted the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher as the state's official bird on May 26, 1951.

Several factors helped promote the bird's selection. The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was considered important to the state's farming, due to its diet of agricultural pests like grasshoppers. In addition, Oklahoma lies at the heart of the bird's summer nesting range. Furthermore, no other state had chosen the bird, a fact that helped support its selection.

The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus) is a member of the Tyrannidae family, which includes more than 400 species in more than 100 genera worldwide. In North America, there are are 37 species in 10 genera, including the genus Tyrannus, of which the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is one of eight North American breeders. The other seven are all kingbirds, none of which have the spectacular long tail characteristic of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. The flycatcher, like the kingbirds of its genus, is commonly found in open country. It frequently perches on fence wire, hawks insects on the fly and returns to the same perch.

The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is about 10 inches in length, although the adult male, with a longer tail, can reach 15 inches. Adult birds have bright pink underwing coverts and a fainter pink lower belly color, but the unmistakable identification feature is the long, open-scissored tail. The monogamous pair have a single brood each year, consisting of 3-5 eggs which are incubated for about two weeks. The altricial young fledge in another two weeks. In addition to insects, the flycatchers also feed on fruit and berries.

The breeding range includes Texas and Kansas, as well as Oklahoma. In fall, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher returns far south to its winter range east of the Andes Mountains in Bolivia and Peru. From spring through summer, the flycatcher is a delightful sight along highways and back roads, where it loves to perch on barbed wire fences.

An Appropriate Choice for Oklahoma State Bird

With its sweeping plains, open grassland and miles of barbed wire fence, Oklahoma is a favored breeding ground for the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. No other bird can match the flycatcher's stunning long-tailed look, and the bird was an ideal choice for Oklahoma.

For information about other official state birds, see the following articles: