Phainopepla - Ross Feldner

This uniquely colored bird with a unique name looks like an all black cardinal with red eyes. When in flight they show stunning white wing patches.

The Phainopepla also has a unique gizzard mechanism that shucks berry skins off the fruit and packs the skins separately from the rest of the fruit into the intestines for more efficient digestion. This is the only known bird able to do this. They are especially fond of desert mistletoe berries. A member of the silky-flycatcher family, they will also catch insects from perches, returning to the same perch after they snag a morsel.

Phainopeplas live in hot desert areas in the Western United States and Mexico but do range as far north as Central California building a nest in the center of a clump of mistletoe, making it very difficult to see. The nest, a small shallow cup of twigs, leaves, and weeds held together with spider webs! Males primarily build the nest and line it with animal hair or plant down.

Lastly, they have another unique characteristic. They breed in two distinct habitats at different times of the year.