They’ve been spotted fairly regularly since the birds first starting circulating around the area in 2008, but an image on the back of an Oklahoma state quarter isn’t nearly as exciting as seeing the real thing. At least that’s what long-time St. Joseph birder Frances Cramer would say.

Cramer and other fellow birders spotted a pair of “scissortailed flycatchers” recently at the corner of Gene Field and Riverside Road in St. Joseph. While the birds are not considered rare or endangered, they are not normally found this far north in the country.

Cramer, who’s been a birder for much of her life, took some amazing photographs of the birds at about 7 p.m. on March 28.

She was excited about the sighting, as it had been the second sighting of a flycatcher species in the region this year.

The first was on April 28 near Muskrat Lake, which is south of town. This sighting, according to Cramer, was of a forktail flycatcher and was even more remarkable as it may be a record “first time in Missouri bird.” The sighting was so significant that birders from all across the state, including Cramer, went to see it.

“Both sightings were just interesting to me,” Cramer said. She didn’t know whether to blame “global warming” or what, but “to have both of these more southern birds show up in the St. Joseph area this spring … well, they’ve been fun to see,” she said.

According to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife, where the scissortail is the state’s official bird, they are easily identified by their long, scissor-like tail, which may reach nine inches in length. During flight, the bird opens its tail like a pair of scissors and folds or closes the “scissors” when perching.

The birds were officially adopted by the Oklahoma State Legislature on May 5, 1951, and their image placed on the state quarter just last year. The bird’s common name is derived from its former Latin name Muscivoria forficata, meaning “flying,” ”scissors” and “to devour.”

The birds are well known for their aerial “sky dance,” according to Oklahoma Wildlife officials. This elaborate courtship display is performed to attract the attention of potential mates.

While the birds are abundant throughout their range of southern states and along the Mexican border, they are normally not found north of the Missouri River.

According to the Missouri Breeding Bird Atlas Project, only one or two confirmed sightings of these flycatchers had been noted this far north prior to 1992. The majority of sightings had been in the Osage Plains and Ozark areas of the state, well south of the Missouri River.

Cramer, incidentally, was one of many birders across the state who volunteered her time to make the 1992 Missouri Breeding Bird Atlas Project a success. She has been a long-time member and served on the local board of the Audubon Society.

Cramer is also a veteran of the Bird Watcher’s Digest “Big Sit” events and has posted sightings on Rarebirds.com. For those interested in viewing more of Cramer’s birding photographs, including full-color shots of the recently sighted scissortail flycatchers, go to www.mobirds.smugmug.com/ and click on the photos tab under the galleries link to see her collection.

Outdoors correspondent Jeff Leonard can be reached at outdoors@npgco.com