- Phainopepla nitens
Identification
6.25 inches Short, thin bill, dark crest; males have entirely black plumage, females grey white wing patches visible in flight, long tail. Juveniles are similar to females
Distribution
California and southern Utah, and south to northern Mexico.
Taxonomy
Habitat
Desert oases and deserts, woodlands.
Behaviour
Diet includes mistletoe berries.
Eggs are grey or pink and speckled, and the incubation, done by both the male and female, takes fifteen days. The young fledge after nineteen days.
The Phainopepla rarely drinks water, even though research indicates that it loses about 95 percent of its body mass in water per day. Instead, it gets the water it needs from its food. Its chief food is the berries of the Desert Mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum), with which it has a symbiotic relationship: the seeds of this parasitic plant are deposted directly on the branches of its host through the droppings of the Phainopepla.
