Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens

Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens, Female. Photograph taken within the greater Alamos area, Sonora, April 2019. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens, Female. Photograph taken within a residential community in Hereford, Arizona, June 2017. Photograph and identification courtesy of Bob Behrstock, Sierra Vista, Arizona (naturewideimages.com).

Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens, Males. Photographs courtesy of Dr. Tom Bartol, Carlsbad, California, taken within the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Southern Arizona, March 2018.

Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens, Male. Photograph taken in Oak Hills, California, March 2019. Photograph and identification courtesy of Julie McGhee, Oak Hills.

The Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens, is a member of the Ptilogonatidae Family of Silky Flycatches. They are medium in stature. In Mexico they are found in the coastal regions within the Pacific Slope in the States of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, and Sinaloa and within the Central Plateau at elevations up to 2,400 m (7,900 feet). From a conservation perspective the Phainopepla is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are found in open arid desert mesquite brushland and move to wetter habitats during the summer. They consume insects and seasonal available mistletoe berries and crops.