Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrranus forficatus)

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher [lateral view of adult male]. Photograph Credit: DJ Stanley; Ninemile Crossroad, Bledsoe County, Tennessee; 4 May 2008.

Abundance:  Very Uncommon during late spring, summer, and early fall; records in 9 Tennessee counties (Map of UCR Distribution); small Regional breeding population in Bledsoe County, Tennessee, initiated by no later than 2000 and increasing annually since then, especially during the period from 2005 to 2010 (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Summer Resident; Transient and/or post-breeding disperser during spring and fall; photographs (see links below).

Regional High Count: 12 [adults] (1 May 2012; Bledsoe County, Tennessee; Stephen J. Stedman, Janie C. Finch).

Information on Records (through 2011 for Bledsoe County only): 

4 June–13 July 2000 (pair—nest and 1–2 young) north of Pikeville, Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Debbie Shannon, Roi Shannon, m. ob.; Knight 2000d).

8 June 2001 (1) Ball Hill Rd., Putnam County, Tennessee (Barbara H. Stedman; Casteel 2001d).

17 August 2002 (2) Warren County, Tennessee (Susan N. McWhirter; Casteel 2003a).

13 June–15 July 2004 (pair—nest and 4 young) Ninemile Crossroad [0.3 km east of Old Rt. 28], Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Debbie Shannon, Roi Shannon, Edmund K. LeGrand photo, m. ob.; Knight 2004d), photo [fledgling] (2 July 2004, Edmund K. LeGrand).

20 October 2004 (1—adult) Dodson Branch Rd. north of Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Ginger K. Ensor; Casteel 2005a).

4 June 2005 (pair—nest) Ninemile Crossroad [0.3 km east of Old Rt. 28], Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Debbie Shannon, Roi Shannon).

10 June–13 July 2006 (pair—nest and 4 young) Ninemile Crossroad [0.3 km east of Old Rt. 28], Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Debbie Shannon, Roi Shannon et al., unpubl. data); photo (adult [shading young in nest] 1 July 2006, Joseph E. Mast).

17 May/16 June/21 June/28 July 2007 (1—adult/pair with 3 young in nest/pair—1 young in nest and 1 young out of nest/ 1—adult) Ninemile Crossroad [0.3 km east of Old Rt. 28], Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman/Debbie Shannon, Roi Shannon, Harold Birch/Stephen J. Stedman/Michele Ramsey).

9 June 2007 (1—adult) Booher Lane, Monroe, Overton County, Tennessee (Stanley Carter).

21 June 2007 (1—adult [probable female]) Lower East Valley Rd., Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman).

2 September 2007 (1) Upper East Valley Rd. 2 km south of intersection with Ninemile Crossroad, Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman).

3/4 May/8/13 June/1 July 2008 (2/1—adults/pair—nest/pair/pair—nest with nestlings) Ninemile Crossroad [0.3 km east of Old Rt. 28], Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman/DJ Stanley photo [adult; see above]/Chuck and Lola Estes/Carol D. Williams, Judy C. Fuson/Stephen J. Stedman, Edmund K. LeGrand photo).

8 June 2008 (1—adult) Slaughterhouse Rd., Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Chuck and Lola Estes).

1 July/9 August 2008 (pair—2 fledglings/2 adults) Brushy Cemetery on Old Rt. 28 [c. 1.5 km north of Ninemile Crossroad], Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Edmund K. LeGrand photo, Stephen J. Stedman/Stephen J.Stedman, Jack Carr photo, Nan Evans Beesley, Annell Fields).

1 July 2008 (1—male; 1—juvenile; used nest) intersection Upper East Valley Rd. and Akins Rd. near Swafford Pond, Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Edmund K. LeGrand photo [juvenile]).

1 July 2008 (pair—3 fledglings) Old Rt. 28 [0.4 km south of Ninemile Crossroad], Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Edmund K. LeGrand photo, Stephen J. Stedman).

1 July 2008 (pair) Ninemile Crossroad  [1.2 km east of Old Rt. 28], Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Edmund K. LeGrand, Stephen J. Stedman).

9 August 2008 (2—adults) Ninemile Crossroad [c. 1 km west of Upper East Valley Rd.] Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Stephen J.Stedman, Jack Carr photo, Nan Evans Beesley, Annell Fields).

18 April 2009 (1) Oxier Hollow Rd., Bledsoe County, Tennessee (DJ Stanley photo); Note: several breeding sites active during 2008 were again active during 2009, and one or two new breeding sites were found, including this one.

15 May/10 July 2010 (2—adults/2—adult and juvenile ) Slaughterhouse Rd., Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman/Stephen J. Stedman and Edmund K. LeGrand).

10 July 2010 (1—adult) intersection Upper East Valley Rd. and Akins Rd., Bledsoe Co., Tennessee (Edmund K. LeGrand and Stephen J. Stedman).

11–12 July 2010 (1—adult) Rt. 70N just west of Obed River, Cumberland County, Tennessee (Mark Anderson, Edmund K. LeGrand photo [latter date]; Knight 2010d).

10–11 May 2011 (1—adult) Stone Farm, Celina, Clay County, Tennessee (Danny Stone [first date], Terry M. Campbell [both dates] photo).

23 May 2011 (1) Rt. 285 in northern Van Buren County, Tennessee (Edmund K. LeGrand), a Van Buren County Foray record.

6 June 2015 (1) White County, Tennessee (S. and G. Clendenen), a White County Foray record.

27 May 2016 (1) Macon County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman), a Union Hill BBS record.

Regional Extreme Dates: 

    Early Spring: 18 April 2009 (Bledsoe County, Tennessee; DJ Stanley).

    Late Fall: 20 October 2004 (Putnam County, Tennessee; Ginger K. Ensor).

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). Nesting records were obtained in Bledsoe County during eight breeding seasons of the period 2000–2010 with breeding confirmed at one site (Ninemile Crossroad 0.3 km east of Old Rt. 28) during all eight of those seasons (2000, 2004–2010); breeding confirmed (5 sites) or suspected (3 sites) at no fewer than eight other sites in the county, most in the northern half of the county.

Habitat: Open agricultural land with fences and other low perches is attractive to this stunning flycatcher.  Nests are sometimes placed on the crossbeams of, or other attachments on, power poles, as was the case with the nests constructed from 2004 to 2010 on Ninemile Crossroad (0.3 km east of Old Rt. 28) and as was the case with the nest constructed in 2008 at the intersection of Upper East Valley Rd. and Akins Rd., both in Bledsoe County, Tennessee.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: 

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited