A Very Lost Bird

I was looking out my office window yesterday morning when a gray bird, about the size of a small thrush, flew into the large valley oak to the north. It looked like a northern mockingbird.

But: no white flashes. None.

The bird was a scissor-tailed flycatcher. They nest in Oklahoma and Texas; usually they spend the winter in Central America. This one apparently is happy to be in Davis. Sylvia Wright first spotted it on December 12, when it was seen only by her and one other person, though she did manage to get a good photo.

I called a few birding friends, and within twenty minutes about twelve people were there. The provost came down to look for it. We had all kinds of people asking whether we were conducting a psychology experiment!

Postscript, Monday, January 19, 2004: We saw the flycatcher well for over an hour this morning. Numenius took lots of photos, one of which can be seen at left.