Fork-tailed Flycatcher

How to find it

Look for it sitting in the open on fence posts, low bushes or even the ground. Birders check open savannas, grasslands and farmland in the Guanacaste lowlands, plus rice fields and the edges of coastal mangroves. Because it likes the very top of a post or shrub, a slow drive along a country road works well. Once you find a likely perch, wait a little, since it often flies out after an insect and returns to the same spot. Birding the road through La Gamba, in the south Pacific region, can also turn it up alongside other birds that are hard to find in Costa Rica.

How to recognise it

Adults are white below and gray above, with a black cap. Males can show a hidden yellow crown stripe, though you may never see it.

The tail is the feature everyone remembers. It is extremely long and forked in the male, and much shorter in females and juveniles, so a short-tailed bird on a post may still be this species.

The bird is two-toned, with a black head and cheeks over a pure white throat and underside. The outer tail feathers curve inward and end in sharp points.

In flight the long tail sweeps out behind, and the flight is strong and direct.

What it sounds like

Recording: Eduardo Luis Beltrocco, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

This is a sit-and-wait hunter. It perches in the open on branches, wires or fence posts, then flies out to catch an insect in the air and often returns to the same perch. Watch one post for a minute and you may see the whole routine.

It mostly eats flying insects such as beetles, caught in short flights from exposed perches. It also takes insects from the ground. Birds sometimes gather in small flocks, and males defend their territory aggressively.

In courtship the male performs swirling aerial somersaults, twists and flips, with buzzing calls to impress the female.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it is reported from sea level up to about 1000 m, in open habitats. It is reported throughout the country below that height.

Across its range it uses open, dry, non-forested country: pastures, savanna with scattered shrubs and trees, mangroves, clearings, rivers with nearby forest, and residential areas.

In Costa Rica it has been seen in the north, including near Rincón de la Vieja and at Los Chiles in Alajuela, and in the southern zone near Ciudad Neily in Puntarenas.

When to see it

Breeding in Costa Rica has been reported between March and June. One site calls it a year-round resident or visitor, and says April and May sightings in the north point to steady presence in the dry season.

Similar birds

The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher also has a very long tail, and it is the look-alike most likely to be mistaken for this bird in Costa Rica. It is a northern migrant that winters from southern Mexico to central Costa Rica. The Fork-tailed has a black cap and no salmon-pink on the flanks, while the Scissor-tailed shows pink flanks and a pearly gray head. The Scissor-tailed's tail feathers flare slightly outward, and the Fork-tailed male's tail is even longer.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The AOCR Spanish name is Tijereta Sabanera, with Tijerilla as the everyday alternative. Tijereta means little scissors, a nod to the forked tail. Tijereta sabanera is also used in Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Ecuador, while other countries use different names. One site says that in some cultures, seeing this bird is taken as a sign that rain is coming, though that is not tied to Costa Rica.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it R,M?, a resident with possible migrant birds, and it is rated Least Concern with a very large and stable population.

Photography tips

It likes to sit on the very top of fence posts or shrubs, so it is easy to spot and watch from a roadside. It sometimes sits on the ground. Watch a favourite perch and wait for it to return after a flight.