• 

  Profile

• 

  In flight

Songbirds

Phainopepla

Phainopepla nitens

• uncommon
• 40 km/h
• Least Concern

Glossy black male with red eyes, looks like a goth cardinal. Eats so much mistletoe it spreads the plant for a living.

Population

~3.2 million mature individuals, stable (2019 estimate; North American BBS data show ~55% increase over the prior decade)

Habitat

Desert washes and mesquite bosques with parasitic mistletoe, hot desert scrub (sea level to ~2,400 m), and oak-sycamore riparian woodlands

Fun fact

Phainopeplas are the northernmost member of the mostly-tropical silky-flycatcher family (Ptiliogonatidae) and are such efficient mistletoe-seed dispersers that berries pass through their gut and are defecated in as little as 12 (up to 45) minutes.

Range

Southwestern United States (California including San Joaquin Valley, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico) south through both Baja California states into central Mexico; rare vagrant north to Canada (e.g., Ontario)

Diet

Primarily desert mistletoe berries (up to ~1,100 berries per day); switches to insects caught in flight (sallying) especially when feeding protein-needy nestlings

Size

0.195 m

Wingspan

0.28 m

Lifespan

8 years