In May 2020 I was successful in adding Scissor-tailed Flycatcher to my SC statelist, seeing a stakeout pair of birds in Spartanburg County. That was one of 3 sites in SC where this species was either nesting or at least quite reliable this spring and summer. At first I thought SC nesting sites might represent a recent eastward range expansion of this species from its traditional breeding range in the south-central states. But a quick review of eBird data shows that Scissor-tails have been nesting very locally in the southeast states for some time, with likely nesting sites this year alone in TN, AL, MS, and of course SC. This is consistent with text from the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America which says that the species “very rarely nests east to VA and NC”.
But despite that comment in the Field Guide, NC seems to be pretty much left out of this breeding range expansion. I could only find one record of breeding in NC documented in eBird over the last 10 years. And that’s despite the fact that the 3 SC sites where they are regular this year are each just a few miles from the NC stateline. I commented to Cleveland County, NC birder Bill Hooker that he should keep his eyes open for Scissor-tails in his area as habitat in Cleveland County looked very similar to the habitat where they were nesting just a few miles away in SC.
And sure enough that’s exactly what happened. Bill reached out to me on May 23rd to make sure I noticed an eBird post of a Scissor-tail in Cleveland County. Unfortunately it was of just a fly-by bird, and the location was uncertain. And then Bill notified me of another Cleveland County report on June 15th, this time the bird was spotted on Beaver Dam Church Road in Shelby. But before I got in my car to chase after it, Bill said he’d check it out and get back to me potentially saving me the trip if this bird was no longer around. Alas, Bill could not re-find the bird, so maybe it too quickly passed through the area. But he said he would check the area again the next morning just in case.
On the morning of the 16th I had all my gear ready in hopes that Bill might just be able to relocate our target bird. But he sent me a text that once again he was not successful. I was in the midst of sending him a reply text when my phone rang – it was Bill saying that the bird had just reappeared. Within 5 minutes I was out the door and on the hunt.
Beaver Dam Church Road was about an hour away, but I was hopeful that the Scissor-tail would stick around until I got there. And Bill said he’d stay at the spot until I got there to keep tabs on the bird. I was just 2 minutes away when Bill called – he said that although for most of the past hour the bird was out of view, it had just reappeared on the wires right next to where he parked. I was just ending the call when I pulled into the area – up ahead I could see Bill standing next to his car with the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher nicely perched on wires right across the road. Timing is everything! I got this phonescoped photo of the bird which had suddenly become quite cooperative.
A couple minutes later we went across the road to listen for some Horned Larks that Bill had found earlier. As we listened, we watched the Flycatcher drop down to the grasses along the roadside likely to feed. Then we heard the tinkling notes of the Lark’s song in the soybean field ahead of us, for a moment diverting our attention away from the Scissor-tail. When we looked back the Flycatcher was nowhere in sight. We spent another 30 minutes in the area but couldn’t relocate our bird.
It turns out that our experience with the bird that morning was typical of its activities over the next couple weeks. Though it continued to be reported, more often than not either birders were not able to locate the bird, or they spotted it for just a few minutes before it disappeared. Like I said, timing is everything.
My statebird map of Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is inserted below. The 7 blue states are those where I’ve seen this species in its regular range – throughout the southcentral states where it breeds and as an uncommon wintering bird in south FL. The 6 tan states are those where I’ve seen it as a rarity - as a vagrant in KY, MD, and MA; as a local breeder in TN and SC; and now NC perhaps to be a local breeder sometime soon as well.
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