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Phainopepla (male)

Phainopepla nitens

Photo by Jellis
Published on Project Noah
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37.9571, -121.864

Field Notes

Description:

A strange name for unique bird. Males are glossy black, slim with long tail, crest on the head and maroon eyes. Females are dark grey with brown eyes.
Has unusal bird call and when threatened it can mimic other birds calls.
Fruit eating bird which is mostly mistletoe berries sometimes insects too.
It rarely drinks water but gets it's liquids from the berries it eats.

Habitat:

This bird lives and breeds in two different habitats each year, from desert to woodland.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (8)

Thank Jemma. I didn't see him on my last visit there.
lovely bird with very melodious calls. Great work Jellis!!
I follow the Yahoo Birders Group and eBird to find birds. This was mentioned recently. The park ranger at the entrance gave me the location. It was still there. I was also excited by the Black-throated Gray Warbler cause there was no recent sightings of them in the area.
That must have been the most exciting part! Discovery is awesome. :-)
Thanks Jakubko. I know and I never knew it existed in my area.
Photographed
PublishedMarch 31, 2013

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