The fork-tailed flycatcher (Tyrannus savana) is a passerine bird of the tyrant flycatcher family and is a member of a genus typically referred to as kingbirds. Named for the long, forked tail, particularly in males, fork-tailed flycatchers are seen in shrubland, savanna, lightly forested and grassland areas, from southern Mexico to Argentina. They are frequently observed on conspicuous perches whence they sally after insect prey. Northern populations near southern Mexico tend to be permanent residents, while fork-tailed flycatchers that live further south are migrants with a reputation for wandering as far north as New Brunswick, Canada.
Taxonomy
The fork-tailed flycatcher was described in 1760 by Mathurin Jacques Brisson under the French name "le tyran à queue fourchue" (lit. 'the fork-tailed tyrant') and then again in 1780 by Georges-Louis Buffon under the name "le savana" (because it lived in savannahs), but it was not until 1802 that François Marie Daudin coined the binomial name Tyrannus savana. The type locality is Suriname.
Four subspecies are recognised:
Tyrannus savana monachus Hartlaub, 1844 – southern Mexico to Colombia, the Guianas, and northern Brazil
Tyrannus savana sanctaemartae (Zimmer, JT, 1937) – northern Colombia and northwest Venezuela
Tyrannus savana circumdatus (Zimmer, JT, 1937) – east-central Brazil
Tyrannus savana savana Daudin, 1802 – central, southern South America and the Falkland Islands
T. s. savana Argentina
T. s. monachus Belize
T. s. monachus Belize showing fork tail
Description
The fork-tailed flycatcher is white below, gray above, and has a black cap. Males sometimes show a yellow crown stripe. Males also have an extremely long, forked tail, of even greater length than that of the related scissor-tailed flycatcher. Females have a somewhat shorter tail, and it is significantly shorter in juveniles.
