Stats

Lifespan: 10-15 yrs
Size: Medium
Diet: Insectivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Pair
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: North America
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Speed
Status: Common

About

A pale gray flycatcher of the southern Great Plains, named for its dramatically long, deeply forked black-and-salmon tail, which can be longer than its body. Males perform an acrobatic tumbling flight display over open grassland to court mates.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A small clutch of speckled eggs is incubated in a cup nest, turned and kept warm by the parent.
2.
hatchling
A pink, blind hatchling is fed by its parents in the nest, gaping its bill at every visit.
3.
juvenile
A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to fly and to forage close to its parents.
4.
adult
Fully grown with adult plumage and song.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Tyrannidae
Genus: Tyrannus
Species: Tyrannus forficatus