Photo: Antonio Amaral
Also known as scissor bird, treasurer, treasurer bird, and little bird-of-the-field. The scissor bird is a passerine bird of the Tyrannidae family. An unmistakable migrant, it moves in groups of up to hundreds of individuals, in typical concentrations during the months of September and October. They sleep in the same tree or in nearby trees when migrating, whether in natural areas or urban areas. Despite not being colorful, the lightness and grace of its flight, as well as the distribution of colors, are very striking. It has a black hood, with yellow coloring in the middle of the crown, mostly hidden, contrasting with the white throat and underparts. Uniform gray back, with emphasis on the long tail, which is longer than its body. There is a subtle sexual dimorphism, with males having a large extension of the tail, especially the two outermost feathers. This difference is visible when the birds are close together. The shape of the tail gave rise to the common names.