Photo by Pixabay • The scissor-tailed flycatcher is the state bird of Oklahoma and not a species often found within the borders of the Volunteer State. Nevertheless, one such flycatcher was recently spotted by Dan Huffine as he baled hay in a field in Jonesborough.
Birding is a lot like riding a bike. Once you learn how, it’s always going to stick with you.
That’s certainly been the case for Jonesborough resident Dan Huffine, who got his start in birding back in the last decade of the 20th century.
“I was very active in birding back in early ’90s,” Huffine said.
He’s now emerging after a long hiatus from birding, and he’s done so in a big way with a recent sighting of a scissor-tailed flycatcher.
He wasn’t even actively looking for birds — he was simply baling some hay in a field in Jonesborough.
Photo by Danny Huffine • On a subsequent trip to look for the scissor-tailed flycatcher, Dan Huffine was rewarded with a chance to snap a photo of the bird perched on a wire.
“The bird was sitting on a windrow of hay facing me as i approached it on a tractor and round baler,” he explained.
He noted that his first impression was, “Wow! That mockingbird has a really white-looking head.”
As he got closer, the bird flew and revealed that it was definitely not a Northern mockingbird.
“It had that unmistakable long tail with some pinkish color under the wings,” Huffine said.
He stopped the tractor, not believing what he had just seen.
“My immediate thought was no one will believe me,” Huffine said. “I got some poor quality cell phone pictures. I got a better shot later in the day. I so wanted others to confirm my sighting.”
Toward that end, he contacted me and sought out my help in getting him in touch with Rick Knight and Fred Alsop, two very accomplished and well-known birders in the region.
Huffine’s excitement was contagious. Some other birders have now observed the flycatcher, which is a bird much more likely to be found in Oklahoma or Texas rather than Northeast Tennessee.
In fact, Huffine’s sighting became only the third-ever sighting of a scissor-tailed flycatcher in Northeast Tennessee. All of the sightings have taken place in Washington County.
According to the website “All About Birds,” scissor-tailed flycatcher numbers declined by about 31% between 1966 and 2014. The estimate comes from statistics gathered by the North American Breeding Bird Survey.
The website also noted that Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 9.5 million scissor-tailed flycatchers, with 92% breeding in the United States, and 50% spending some part of the year in Mexico.
A scissor-tailed flycatcher is unlikely to be confused with any other bird. Adult males are pale gray birds with blackish wings and black tails with white edges. Adults show salmon-pink flanks that extend to underwing patches that are very conspicuous in flight. As is the case with so many species of birds, males are more colorful than females.
The bird’s body is about the size of an American robin, but it looks bigger due to the long tail that gives this species its common name.
The “All About Birds” website notes that the scissor-tailed flycatcher doesn’t always stay within its expected range.
This species tends to wander widely on their way to and from the wintering grounds, a habit they share with relatives like the fork-tailed flycatcher and tropical kingbirds. During spring and fall, scissor-tailed flycatchers may show up almost anywhere in North America, as far north
as British Columbia and Nova Scotia — or Northeast Tennessee.
One place that the bird is expected is Oklahoma. Since May 26, 1951, the scissor-tailed flycatcher has been the officially designated Oklahoma state bird.
Even during Huffine’s hiatus from birding, he still managed to see some fantastic birds, including a snowy owl in Beckley, West Virginia, back in 2014.
“I started an ebird account in early 2022,” he said.
“I am starting over with my life list.”
The only bird that he has kept on his list is the aforementioned snowy owl.
“Birding is much easier now than it was 30 years ago,” Huffine said. “We have better optics.”
He noted that birding apps have also proliferated, including eBird and Merlin.
“Just don’t over trust Merlin,” Huffine cautioned.
He has some target species that he’d like to find in east Tennessee, including Northern saw-whet owl and ruffed grouse.
“Ruffed grouse has become a much harder species i(to find) in the last 30 years,” Huffine said.
He has some solid advice for anyone who would like to replicate his success.
“It’s is easy to dream about far-off places to visit, but look for everything that is present where you are,” he said. “You might find a scissor-tailed flycatcher.”
Our Fine Feathered Friends 