Northern Phainopepla "Shiny Robe" -- "silky flycatcher"

[usonian]

My usual bird identification procedure.

1. Type in a rough description to an image search (I use duckduckgo.com)
2. Look for a ringer. (found one!)
3. Visit the site and get more info.

So here's today's snap:

Nicer at 7.4 megabytes, but what isn't?

Found a ringer at pinterest, got the name Northern Phainopepla. Look that up.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Phainopepla/overview

A singular bird of the Southwest, the Phainopepla is a brilliant sight in flight. Males are silky black and slender, with an elegant crest and bold white wing patches that appear when the bird takes wing. Females are similar but a subdued gray. These glossy birds occur in desert washes, where they eat mainly mistletoe berries, and in oak and sycamore woodlands of California and Arizona. They often perch high in shrubs and catch insects on the wing.

Phainopeplas are easiest to find in winter, when they can be numerous in desert washes with plenty of mistletoe growing on mesquite. Also look for them in California’s oak woodlands, particularly in the warmer months. They tend to perch high in shrubs or trees, watching for intruders or catching insects. Listen for their distinctive, rising wurp call and watch for the bright wing patches of flying birds.

The name "Phainopepla" comes from the Greek for "shining robe," a fitting characterization of the shiny, jet-black plumage of the adult male. Phainopeplas are the only U.S. representative of the family Ptilogonatidae, known as “silky-flycatchers.” They are not related to North American flycatchers; their nearest common ancestors are the waxwings, which also have a glossy, silky look to their plumage. Phainopeplas are also related to Palmchats, which occur only on the island of Hispaniola.

Phainopeplas have digestive tracts specialized for eating mistletoe fruit. These berries are low in nutrients, so the birds have to consume lots of them. The berries spend only about 12 minutes in a Phainopepla’s intestine, and the birds may eat 1,100 berries in a day.

Oh, do I have mistletoe berries. Lots of clusters on oaks. Flying insects, too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phainopepla
The phainopepla or northern phainopepla (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.

Cross-posted to photography.

[Bayard]

1. Nice catch!