Why the Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher has a Split Tail, Week 9 Story

A long time ago, when humans still had not come about, Oklahoma was filled with many of the animals that are still found there today. Two of the most important animals within the community were the graceful, brown and white feathered Kingbird and his friend, the massive Buffalo. One day, as the Kingbird was resting on the Buffalo back, looking for insects to catch, the Buffalo turned its head sideways and spoke, “Little bird, why do you always come and sit on my back, why should I let you benefit from my size while you give me nothing?”. The Kingbird thought for a moment and replied, “Why do I have to benefit you? I’m not causing any harm to your back, am I?” The great Buffalo turned his head back toward the plain ahead and huffed, “You’re lucky I’m in a terrific mood today, for there is grass aplenty for me to graze upon.”

Weeks passed, with the Kingbird occasionally using the Buffalo as a ride – nothing more was said on the topic until one evening, right as the sun was setting. Unfortunately, the rain gods had not been shining down upon the Oklahoma plains and there was little to eat. As the Kingbird flew out of the blue sky and glided onto his back, the Buffalo asked, “Little bird, the sun is setting and I’m walking west, could you flutter close to my eye so that the sun doesn’t blind me?”. With that request, the Kingbird laughed, “Flutter in front of your eye? You have to be kidding! Why would I move from my cozy spot on your back, fluttering would be of no use to me!”.

The Buffalo was astounded. After all the time the Kingbird sat on his back, feeding off the insects that he disturbed, wouldn’t help him with a simple favor? Unacceptable.

The Buffalo knew he couldn’t do anything just yet, he would wait for the Kingbird to fly off. After a few hours, when the Kingbird was done resting and left for the night, the Buffalo headed to where the ground met the sky to talk to the gods of the plains and skies. When he got there a few hours later, the Buffalo God came trampling up to him from the heavens and thundered, “Why have you come here, little buffalo?”. He spoke to the god of the unfair treatment that he had received at the feet of the bird. After hearing his predicament, the god concluded that the bird’s tail needed to be split in two, so that it would have trouble flying and that it needed to be banished from being near any buffalo on the plains.

After this day, the brown and white kingbird became known as the scissor-tailed flycatcher, and they were never allowed to rest during a long day on the Buffalo’s back.

This story was inspired by the Nigerian Folk Tales that I read this week. Many of them were in the style of explaining why the way things are with certain animals. Examples of this included why hippo's are always in the water, why worms don't have eyes, and why elephants and bush-cows always fight when they're near each other.

"Why the Hippopotamus Lives in the Water" Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria. Elphinstone Dayrell. 1910.


Picture above taken by Ken Slade on Flickr