February 23, 2018

Congratulations to our BirdSpotter People’s Choice winner, Dee Elliot of Mineral Wells, Texas, for this eye-catching photo of a juvenile Scissor-tailed Flycatcher! Dee snapped a few photos of the flycatcher as it was perched on a fence, but knew she had a winner when a grasshopper suddenly, and unassumingly, decided to fly by. The flycatcher grabbed it right out of the air for a snack! She says “I was so excited to get that shot. I could hardly contain myself until I could get back to the house to see the image on my computer.”

Scissor-tailed Flycatchers breed mostly in the south-central United States and a little farther into Mexico. They can usually be found perched on fence wires, and adults are strikingly obvious because of their long, forked tail. Just before their migration to Mexico and Central America, they roost in flocks of up to 1,000 birds!

Tomorrow, Saturday, February 24th, is the first day to Vote for this year’s Grand Prize Winner! . Biweekly People’s Choice and Judges’ Choice winners are eligible to win the extra-special Grand Prize items from our sponsor, Wild Birds Unlimited. Anyone can participate by voting for their favorites. Voting runs only until March 1st, 2018. Find out more about the BirdSpotter contest.