The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is a unique and iconic bird found throughout the southern Great Plains states in the United States. With its deeply forked tail and aerial acrobatics, this striking flycatcher has inspired many different symbolic meanings and associations.
Appearance and Characteristics
The most distinguishing feature of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is its extraordinarily long, forked tail, which can measure up to 20 cm in length. When perched, the bird often dramatically spreads its scissor-like tail open. The bird’s plumage is pale gray on top and white below, with salmon-pink flanks. The wings are broad and pointed.
In flight, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher shows off its aerobatic skills, maneuvering with great precision as it plucks insects out of the air. It can appear to “hover” in mid-air as it rapidly adjusts its flight to nab prey. The bird sometimes performs elaborate mating displays, flying high up and then plunging down in a spiraling, erratic pattern.
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher migrates from its wintering grounds in Central and South America to breed across the southern Great Plains, arriving in March or April. It prefers open habitats with scattered trees or shrubs, such as prairies, ranchlands, and agricultural areas. The birds build cup-shaped nests high up in isolated trees.
Symbolism and Meaning
Because of its shape, motions, habitat, and other factors, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher has accrued a variety of symbolic meanings across different cultures and contexts.
Freedom and Liberation
The bird’s acrobatic flight and wide-open habitat links it to feelings and ideas of freedom, liberation, and self-determination. The forked “scissor” tail echoes the shape of the peace sign, suggesting freedom from conflict. Some Native American tribes saw the Scissor-tail as embodying the free spirit of the open plains.
Skill and Precision
The Scissor-tail’s aerial agility demonstrates remarkable precision, focus, skill, and dexterity. Its scissor-like tail evokes the idea of cutting with care and accuracy. So the bird can represent competent craftsmanship and expertise. Soldiers at Fort Sill in Oklahoma called it the “Soldier Bird” for its martial skill.
Flash and Flair
With its streamlined profile, split tail, and swift graceful movements, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher embodies speed, agility, flash, and flair. The bird epitomizes slick, eye-catching maneuvers executed with precision. Its dramatic shape and airborne twists call to mind concepts like action, excitement, and bravado.
Hybridity and Duality
The Scissor-tail’s “split” tail creates a hybrid form mixing opposites – like a bird crossed with an insect. This signifies a bridging of disparate ideas or identities. The contrast between the bird’s airy flight and its earthbound nests also duality between sky/ground, spiritual/material, transient/stable. Some cultures saw it as a messenger uniting heaven and earth.
Creativity and Innovation
The novel shape of its tail, the intricacy of its flight patterns, and its open habitat suggest creativity, originality, and innovative thinking. The Scissor-tail shows that innovation can come from blending disparate influences or thinking outside the box. It doesn’t conform to established templates but rather pioneers its own path.
Use in Culture and Media
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher appears widely across different facets of culture due to its visually symbolic nature.
Native American Culture
Plains Indians tribes incorporated the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher into mythology, jewelry, decorative arts, and naming practices. For example, some Cheyenne warriors were named after the bird. The Comanche people saw the Scissor-tail as a sacred messenger bridging natural and spiritual realms.
State and Local Symbols
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher’s unique ties and history with the Great Plains have led to its adoption as an official state symbol. The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is the state bird of Oklahoma as well as the city bird of Muskogee, Oklahoma.
Sports Culture
The bird’s agility, flair, and southwestern connection has made it a popular mascot and logo for sports teams. The minor league baseball team Corpus Christi Hooks and San Angelo Colts use the Scissor-tail as their primary logo. McMurry University sports teams are nicknamed the “War Hawks.”
Corporate Branding
Businesses also leverage the bird’s symbolic associations in logos and branding. The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher appears in logos for businesses seeking to project a sense of freedom, creativity, skill, and southern spirit.
Art and Literature
The striking profile of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher makes it a compelling subject for visual artists. It also features prominently in poetry and literature of the Great Plains region, where it epitomizes the spirit of the open prairies.
Conclusion
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is an iconic and visually symbolic bird of the American south-central states. Its unique “split” tail feather shape, aerial agility, and prairie habitat give rise to varied symbolic meanings. The bird embodies concepts like freedom, skill, creativity, and a blending of seeming opposites. This symbolism draws from native cultures as well as the modern history and character of the Great Plains. The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher makes frequent appearances in regional arts, literature, branding, sports culture, and more as an emblem of the spirit of the southern plains.