Phainopepla | |
---|---|
Male | |
Female in California, USA | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Ptiliogonatidae |
Genus: | Phainopepla S.F. Baird, 1858 |
Species: | P. nitens |
Binomial name | |
Phainopepla nitens (Swainson, 1838) | |
The phainopepla or northern phainopepla [2] (Phainopepla nitens) is the most northerly representative of the mainly tropical Central American family Ptiliogonatidae, the silky flycatchers. Its name is from the Greek phain pepla meaning "shining robe" in reference to the male's plumage.
The phainopepla is a striking bird, 16–20 cm (6.3–7.9 in) long with a noticeable crest and a long tail; it is slender, and has an upright posture when it perches. Its bill is short and slender. The male is glossy black, and has a white wing patch that is visible when it flies; the female is plain gray and has a lighter gray wing patch. Both sexes have red eyes, but these are more noticeable in the female than the male.
The phainopepla ranges as far north as central California with the San Joaquin Valley and southern Utah, and south to central Mexico, the interior Mexican Plateau region; the southern edge of the plateau, the transverse mountains is its non-breeding home. It is found in hot areas, including desert oases, and is readily seen in the deserts of Arizona, southern Nevada, and southern California; also the Baja Peninsula, both Baja California-(north), and Baja California Sur where they are the only breeding resident birds.[ citation needed ] Extreme individuals have travelled as far as Canada, with one bird in 2009 reaching as far north as Brampton, Ontario, Canada. [3]
Their diet consists of berries, any small insects, fruits, vegetables. Phainopeplas have a specialized mechanism in their gizzard that shucks berry skins off the fruit and packs the skins separately from the rest of the fruit into the intestines for more efficient digestion.[ citation needed ] So far this is the only known bird able to do this. They appear to relish the fruit of Phoradendron californicum , the desert mistletoe.
It nests in the spring. They make loosely constructed nests of twigs, mosses, plant fibers, placed on branches of trees, usually below 20 feet from the ground, in thickets or open woods near water. [4] The eggs are gray or pink and speckled, and the incubation, done by both the male and female, takes fifteen days. The young will be reared by the parents for up to nineteen more days. [5]
Phainopeplas have been found to imitate the calls of twelve other species, such as the red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) and the northern flicker (Colaptes auratus). [6]
The cedar waxwing is a member of the family Bombycillidae or waxwing family of passerine birds. It is a medium-sized, mostly brown, gray, and yellow. Some of the wing feathers have red tips, the resemblance of which to sealing wax gives these birds their common name. It is a native of North and Central America, breeding in open wooded areas in southern Canada and wintering in the southern half of the United States, Central America, and the far northwest of South America. Its diet includes cedar cones, fruit, holly berries, and insects. The cedar waxwing is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
The silky-flycatchers are a small family, Ptiliogonatidae, of passerine birds. The family contains only four species in three genera. They were formerly lumped with waxwings and hypocolius in the family Bombycillidae, and they are listed in that family by the Sibley-Monroe checklist. The family is named for their silky plumage and their aerial flycatching techniques, although they are unrelated to the Old World flycatchers (Muscicapidae) and the tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae).
The western bluebird is a small North American thrush.
Cassin's finch is a bird in the finch family, Fringillidae. This species and the other "American rosefinches" are placed in the genus Haemorhous.
Bullock's oriole is a small New World blackbird. At one time, this species and the Baltimore oriole were considered to be a single species, the northern oriole. This bird is named after William Bullock, an English amateur naturalist.
The orchard oriole is the smallest species of icterid. The subspecies of the Caribbean coast of Mexico, I. s. fuertesi, is sometimes considered a separate species, the ochre oriole or Fuertes's oriole.
The hooded oriole is a medium-sized New World oriole. The male of this species ranges in color from a bright orange to a paler yellow, with a black back, face, tail and bib, with the wing containing two white bars. The female is more of an olive color with some yellow accents.
The blue-gray gnatcatcher(Polioptila caerulea) is a very small songbird native to North America.
The eastern kingbird is a large tyrant flycatcher native to the Americas. The bird is predominantly dark gray with white underbelly and pointed wings. Eastern kingbirds are conspicuous and are commonly found in open areas with scattered trees and bushes, where they perch while foraging for insects. The Eastern kingbird is migratory, with its breeding range spread across North America and its wintering range in Central and South America.
The yellow-rumped warbler is a regular North American bird species that can be commonly observed all across the continent. Its extensive distribution range connects both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the U.S. as well as Canada and Central America, with the population concentrating in the continent's northern parts during the breeding season and migrating southwards to southern North and Central America in Winter. The species generally prefers coniferous forests or mixed coniferous-deciduous forests as its breeding habitat, while during the winter it can be found inhabiting more open areas such as shrublands that offer food resources. The diet of the yellow-rumped warbler is based primarily on insects, though the species does eat fruits such as juniper berries as well, especially in winter.
Say's phoebe is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family, Tyrannidae. A common bird across western North America, it prefers dry, desolate areas. It was named for Thomas Say, an American naturalist.
The Malabar gray hornbill is a hornbill endemic to the Western Ghats and associated hills of southern India. They have a large beak but lack the casque that is prominent in some other hornbill species. They are found mainly in dense forest and around rubber, arecanut or coffee plantations. They move around in pairs or small groups, feeding on figs and other forest fruits. Their loud cackling and laughing call makes them familiar to people living in the region.
The eared dove is a New World dove. It is a resident breeder throughout South America from Colombia to southern Argentina and Chile, and on the offshore islands from the Grenadines southwards. It may be a relatively recent colonist of Tobago and Trinidad. It appears to be partially migratory, its movements driven by food supplies.
The gray vireo is a small North American passerine bird. It breeds from the southwestern United States and northern Baja California to western Texas. It is a migrant, wintering in northwestern Mexico, in western Sonora state, and the southern Baja Peninsula in Baja California Sur; it remains all year only in Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas. It is usually found at altitudes between 400 and 2,500 metres in its Mexican breeding grounds. This vireo frequents dry brush, especially juniper, on the slopes of the southwestern mountains.
The verdin is a species of penduline tit. It is the only species in the genus Auriparus and the only representative of the old world family Remizidae to be found in North America.
Lawrence's goldfinch is a small songbird of erratic distribution that breeds in California and Baja California and winters in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
The American gray flycatcher, American grey flycatcher, or just gray flycatcher as it is known in North America, is a small, insectivorous passerine in the tyrant flycatcher family. It is common in the arid regions of western North America, especially the Great Basin. From sagebrush steppes to pinyon-juniper woodlands and ponderosa pine forests, this flycatcher forages for insects from shrubs or low tree branches.
Wallace's fruit dove is a species of a bird in the pigeon family Columbidae. The name commemorates the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace. It is a rather large, long-tailed fruit dove with a length of 24–28 cm (9.4–11.0 in) and has been described as "one of the most beautiful" fruit doves. The forehead and crown are dull crimson, the lower face and throat are white, and the rest of the head, breast, neck, and upper back are pale bluish-grey. The wings and lower back are green and the belly is orange, separated from the chest by a white band. Both sexes look similar, but females have less extensive red on the head and a greenish tinge to their grey parts.
The orange weaver is a species of bird in the weaver family, Ploceidae. It is sparsely distributed across African tropical rainforest.
Swainson's hawk is a large bird species in the Accipitriformes order. This species was named after William Swainson, a British naturalist. It is colloquially known as the grasshopper hawk or locust hawk, as it is very fond of Acrididae and will voraciously eat these insects whenever they are available.