Puneet Varma (Editor)

Fork tailed flycatcher

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Kingdom
  
Order
  
Passeriformes

Genus
  
Tyrannus

Higher classification
  
Kingbird

Phylum
  
Chordata

Family
  
Tyrannidae

Scientific name
  
Tyrannus savana

Rank
  
Species

Fork-tailed flycatcher d2fbmjy3x0sduacloudfrontnetsitesdefaultfiles

Similar
  
Bird, Kingbird, Tyrant flycatcher, Tropical kingbird, Elaenia

Vagrant fork tailed flycatcher in lyme connecticut


The fork-tailed flycatcher (Tyrannus savana) is a passerine bird of the tyrant flycatcher family, and is the member of a genus typically referred to as kingbirds.

Contents

Fork-tailed flycatcher Forktailed Flycatcher Audubon Field Guide

Birds of venezuela fork tailed flycatcher tyrannus savana


Description and ecology

Fork-tailed flycatcher Forktailed Flycatchers Tyrannus savana

This bird occurs in a wide variety of habitats including pastures, riparian forests, and open residential areas with scattered trees. Its breeding range is from central Mexico to central Argentina. In most of this range it is usually found year-round, but in the southern parts of its range it retreats northward for the winter. This species is also known to wander widely. It occurs almost annually in the eastern United States seaboard and Canada.

Fork-tailed flycatcher Forktailed Flycatcher Audubon Field Guide

This flycatcher builds a shallow cup nest 1–10 m (3.3–32.8 ft) high in a shrub or short tree. Females normally lay two or three eggs.

The fork-tailed flycatcher is white below, gray above, and has a black cap. Males sometimes show a yellow crown stripe. Males also have an extremely long forked tail, of even greater length than that of their cousin, the scissor-tailed flycatcher. Females have a somewhat shorter tail, while it is significantly shorter in juveniles. Males are 37–41 cm (15–16 in) in length; females, 28–30 cm (11–12 in), including tail. They weigh only 28–32 g (0.99–1.13 oz), much less than closely related kingbirds, which are half the total length of this species. The fork-tailed flycatcher has the longest tail relative to body size of any bird on earth. The tail in adult males is 2–3 times longer than the length of the bird from the bill to the base of the tail.

This species is primarily an insectivore, but will switch to berries and small fruits during winter if insects become scarce.

References

Fork-tailed flycatcher Wikipedia


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