black phoebe
{{short description|Species of bird in the tyrant-flycatcher family}}
{{Speciesbox
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| image = Black phoebe (Sayornis nigricans aquaticus) Palopo.jpg
| image2 = Sayornis nigricans semiater - Black Phoebe - XC109602.ogg
| genus = Sayornis
| species = nigricans
| authority = (Swainson, 1827)
| range_map = Sayornis nigricans map.svg
}}
The black phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) is a passerine bird in the tyrant-flycatcher family. It breeds from southwest Oregon and California south through Central and South America. It occurs year-round throughout most of its range and migrates less than the other birds in its genus, though its northern populations are partially migratory. Six subspecies are commonly recognized, although two are occasionally combined as a separate species, the white-winged phoebe.
The black phoebe has predominantly black plumage, with a white belly and undertail coverts. The sexes are identical in color, and juveniles have brown feather tips and brown wing-bars. Its song is a repeated tee-hee, tee ho. It lives in a variety of habitats but is always near water. It is mainly insectivorous and waits on a perch before sallying out and catching its prey in the air. It makes an open cup nest which is placed under a cliff or a bridge and cemented in its place with mud.
Description
File:Black phoebe sayornis nigricans.jpg
File:Black Phoebe - Colombia S4E4664.jpg
The black phoebe is a medium-sized flycatcher, being {{convert|16|cm|in|1|sp=us|abbr=on}} in length and weighing {{convert|15|to|22|g|oz|1|sp=us|abbr=on}}.{{Cite web|url=http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Phoebe/lifehistory|title=Black Phoebe, Life History|work=All About Birds|publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology|year=1997|access-date=5 November 2010}} It has predominantly black plumage, with white on its belly and undertail coverts. The white forms an inverted "V" in the lower breast. The sexes are identical and plumage does not vary seasonally. Juveniles have browner plumage, cinnamon-brown feather tips on their body, and brown wing-bars. The bird has brown irises and black legs, feet, and beak.{{Cite web|url=http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/268/articles/characteristics|title=Black Phoebe — Distinguishing Characteristics|last1=Wolf|first1=Blair O.|work=Birds of North America|publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology|year=1997|access-date=5 November 2010}}
The phoebe can be recognized by a characteristic "tail-wagging" motion, in which the tail is lowered and the tail's feathers fanned out.{{cite encyclopedia|last=Terres|first=John K.|year=1980|title=Phoebe, black|encyclopedia=The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location=New York|isbn=0-517-03288-0 | page=392}} It accomplishes almost all locomotion by flight, which is direct, with steady wing beats.{{Cite web|url=http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/268/articles/behavior|title=Black Phoebe —Behavior|last1=Wolf|first1=Blair O.|work=Birds of North America|publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology|year=1997|access-date=5 November 2010}} Its song consists of two alternating phrases (tee-hee, tee-ho or sisee, sitsew).{{cite book|title=The Sibley Guide to Birds|last=Sibley|first=David Allen|author-link=David Allen Sibley|year=2000|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location=New York|isbn=0-679-45122-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/sibleyguidetobir00sibl_0/page/330 330]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/sibleyguidetobir00sibl_0/page/330}} The song can be heard from both sexes, but is more commonly sung by males.{{cite journal |last1=Smith|first1=W. John|year=1970|title=Song-Like Displays in Sayornis Species|journal=Behaviour|publisher=Brill Publishers|volume=37|issue=1/2|pages=64–84|jstor=4533346|doi=10.1163/156853970X00240 }}
Systematics
The phoebes are a genus, Sayornis, of birds in the tyrant flycatcher family. The flycatchers are the largest family of birds on earth, with over 400 known species.{{cite book |title=A field guide to the birds of eastern and central North America|url=https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetobird00pete_0|url-access=registration|last=Peterson|first=Roger Tory|author-link=Roger Tory Peterson|author2=Virginia Marie Peterson|year=2002|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|location=New York|isbn=0-405-10737-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetobird00pete_0/page/199 199]}} The genus name was given by George Robert Gray of the British Museum, and is named after Thomas Say, an American naturalist.{{cite book|title=Thomas Say, early American naturalist|last=Weiss|first=Harry B.|author2=Grace M. Ziegler|year=1978|publisher=Arno Press|location=New York|isbn=0-395-74047-9|page=267|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RLj8LANp3O8C&q=425+known+species&pg=RA1-PA267|access-date=5 November 2010}} The species name, nigricans, is Latin for "blackish",{{cite book |title=A Latin-English Dictionary|last=Smith|first=William|year=1855|publisher=John Muray|location=London|page=723|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pakCAAAAQAAJ&q=nigricans&pg=PA723|access-date=5 November 2010 |isbn=0-7195-1307-3}} and was given by William Swainson in 1827.
The black phoebe has six subspecies, but these can be divided into two groups which are sometimes considered to be separate species: the nigricans group (black phoebe) and the latirostris group (white-winged phoebe).* {{Cite book|title=Birds of the High Andes: A Manual to the Birds of the Temperate Zone of the Andes and Patagonia, South America|last1=Fjeldså|first1=Jon|last2=Krabbe|first2=Niels|year=1990|publisher=Apollo Books|location=Svendborg, Denmark|page=491|isbn=87-88757-16-1}}
The first group contains four subspecies, the second group two.{{Cite web|url=http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/268/articles/Systematics|title=Black Phoebe — Systematics|last1=Wolf|first1=Blair O.|work=Birds of North America|publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology|year=1997|access-date=5 November 2010}}
| style="width: 65%; height: 200px" class="wikitable"
!width=35% | Range !width=43% | Appearance |
| S. n. semiatra
| Southwest United States to western Mexico, including Baja California. | Most white on belly of all subspecies; pale edging on wings and tail. |
| S. n. nigricans
| Nominate subspecies; northeast, central, and southern Mexico. | Less white on belly than semiatra; white forms an inverted "U" instead of "V". |
| S. n. aquatica
| Chiapas, Mexico, through Nicaragua. | White only on midbelly and vent. |
| S. n. amnicola
| Costa Rica and Chiriquí Province, Panama. | Darkest subspecies; less white on abdomen. |
| S. n. angustirostris
| Eastern Panama south through central Bolivia. Sometimes considered separate species with S. n. latirostris. | Extensive white edging on primary and tertial rectrices. |
| S. n. latirostris
| Bolivia and northwest Argentina. Sometimes considered separate species with S. n. angustirostris. | Extensive white edging on rectrices and underwing lining. |
Distribution and habitat
The black phoebe breeds in the west and southwest United States, Mexico and Central America, and parts of South America. In Oregon it is found in river valleys on the Pacific coast, and in California on the western side of Coast Ranges. It breeds throughout the Colorado River valley and occasionally is found to the north in southern Nevada and southwestern Utah, as well as Arizona and central New Mexico. The black phoebe's breeding range in the United States extends as far southeast as the Lower Rio Grande Valley.{{Cite journal |last1=Ortiz |first1=Samuel G. |last2=Gabler |first2=Christopher A. |last3=Brush |first3=Timothy |date=2019 |title=Continued Eastward Range Expansion of Black Phoebes (sayornis Nigricans) in Southernmost Texas |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27100236 |journal=The Southwestern Naturalist |volume=64 |issue=3/4 |pages=231–232 |doi=10.1894/0038-4909-64.3-4.231 |jstor=27100236 |bibcode=2021SWNat..64..231O |issn=0038-4909|url-access=subscription }} In Central America it breeds on Baja California, except for the central part of the peninsula, and on interior mainland Mexico southwest to Panama, excluding El Salvador. In South America it is found in the coastal mountains of Venezuela, through Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, to western Bolivia and northwestern Argentina.
It lives year-round in most of its range and is more sedentary (non-migratory) than either of the other phoebes in its genus (Eastern or Say's), although northern populations may be partially migratory. It is always found near water and is often found at coastal cliffs, river/lake banks, or even park fountains. Habitats must also include a supply of mud for nest building, and the birds' specialized nesting requirements probably cause their somewhat irregular range.{{cite book|last1=Grinnel|first1=Joseph|last2=Storer|first2=Tracy Irwin|year=1924|title=Animal life in the Yosemite|url=https://archive.org/details/animallifeinyose00grin|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, CA|asin=B00467P3XC |pages=[https://archive.org/details/animallifeinyose00grin/page/362 362]–363}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
{{refbegin}}
- {{ cite book | last=Skutch | first=Alexander F. | author-link=Alexander Skutch | date=1960 | chapter=Black phoebe | title=Life Histories of Central American Birds II | series=Pacific Coast Avifauna, Number 34 | location=Berkeley, California | publisher=Cooper Ornithological Society | chapter-url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/pca/pca_034.pdf#page=366 | pages=365–373 | ref=none }}
{{refend}}
External links
{{Commons category|Sayornis nigricans|the black phoebe}}
{{Wikispecies|Sayornis nigricans}}
- [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i4580id.html Black phoebe - Sayornis nigricans] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- [https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Phoebe/ Species Account] – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- {{InternetBirdCollection|black-phoebe-sayornis-nigricans|Black phoebe}}
- {{VIREO|Black+Phoebe|Black phoebe}}
- {{IUCN_Map|22699892/137981772|Sayornis nigricans}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q920950}}
Category:Native birds of the Southwestern United States
Category:Native birds of the West Coast of the United States
Category:Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands
Category:Birds of the Rio Grande valleys
Category:Fauna of the Lower Colorado River Valley
Category:Birds of Central America
Category:Birds of the Northern Andes
Category:Least concern biota of North America