[TN-Bird] Hybird Western Kingbird/Scissor-tailed Flycathers at it again in Memphis
- From: OLCOOT1@xxxxxxx
- To: missbird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, ARBIRD-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, albirds@xxxxxxxxxxx, BIRDCHAT@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 20 May 2007 21:26:02 EDT
May 20, 2007
Sex In The City â??Bird Hanky-Panky
Western Kingbird and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher Pairings in Memphis,
Tennessee
When I started finding and documenting the Western Kingbird and
Scissor-tailed Flycatchers nesting here in TN-AR-MS, I never thought it would
come to the
following:
A few years back, I discovered the first nesting of Western Kingbirds in
Tennessee at Memphis, also the first in Mississippi just south of here and the
first eastern Arkansas loose colony at Blytheville near the Mississippi River.
I found the first nest of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers in Shelby Co, TN on
Presidentâ??s Island in 2004 and this is where the sordid â??tale of tailsâ??
began.
When I first saw the female of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher pair on
presidentâ??s Island, the bird just did not look right, in fact at a distance,
I
thought I had found another Western Kingbird. After the adult male Scissor-tail
showed up at the nest, I kind of passed it off as a female with slightly
aberrant plumage and coloration. She never did look exactly like the numerous
females seen in their breeding areas to our west in central Arkansas. This nest
was located just 3 miles from the first bunch of Western Kingbird nests at the
Steam Plant in Ensley Bottoms. This pair of Scissor-tails hatched four young,
which looked pretty good for Scissor-tails but with slightly different tails,
and two having a lot of bright yellow on their bellies. This odd female was
replaced for a couple of seasons by a normal plumaged bird and now this year
another odd female has appeared, maybe the original female, vying for the male
â??s attention. Evidently the hybrid ran the normal female away and she is now
setting eggs with the male Scissor-tailed FC in attendance.
The first nesting Western Kingbirds nesting at the TVA Steam Plant in Ensley
Bottoms grew to a loose 6 nest colony but has since dropped to only two
nests last year and apparently only one so far this year. All participants at
this location appeared to be full-blooded Western Kingbirds.
Since then, I have found another colony in northwest Memphis, nine miles
from the original, a second loose colony of Western Kingbirds that grew to at
least 4 nests last year. Late last season, a female type Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher appeared. She also did not fit the pattern of a typical Scissor-tail
and
I found her on a nest closely attended by a presumed male, Western Kingbird.
This nest produced 5 young that exhibited traits of both parents and were fed b
y both birds.
This past week, at this north Memphis site, I found two pair of birds
building nests, both consisted of a male Western Kingbird and a hybrid type
female,
each female looking pretty much like the young of the previous yearâ??s mixed
pair.
About 3 miles from this site, I located 5 Western Kingbirds in a new area
where last year Mike Todd and I found a single bird. There appears to be two
nests so far at this location. All five of the birds seen so far appear to be
full-blooded Western Kingbirds.
Photos of these odd pairings and their young can be viewed at the following
site:
_http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/sex_in_city&page=all_
(http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/sex_in_city&page=all)
I would be interested in any info on other mixed pairings of these species.
Good Birding !!!
Jeff R. Wilson / TLBA
6298 Memphis-Arlington Road
Bartlett, TN 38135
http://www.pbase.com/ol_coot/
What is this feathered thing that lifts my heart to the heavens.
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