User:Pizza651/Say's Phoebe

Say's phoebe (Sayornis saya) is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family.

A common bird in the western United States, it prefers dry, desolate areas.

It sallies from a perch to catch insects in mid-air.

It also hovers American kestrel-like and dips its tail while perched.

They attach their nests under bridges, canyon walls, wells and abandoned mine shafts.

The nest is made by the female and is cup-shaped.

She lays three to seven, but usually four or five, white, mostly unmarked, eggs.

Some have red spots.

The eggs are roughly 0.8 in (20 mm).

This species' diet is primarily insects.

Breeding
Say's Phoebes have been found to breed anytime between late March and late August. They have a broad range of breeding elevation, including anywhere from 300 to 1800 meters. Their preferred breeding ground is open, arid country. Their breeding grounds are very wide -- spanning throughout the western continental North America as far north as arctic Alaska to as far south as central Mexico.

Distribution and Habitat
They are found year-round from western Colorado, southwest to southern California, east to the western panhandle of Texas and south through western Mexico. They breed from Alaska south through western and south central Canada, south through North Dakota, the midwest and to New Mexico and westward. They winter in the desert southwest to southern Texas and south through Mexico to northern Central America. During migration these birds can be found thousands of miles out of range, although some are not migratory at all and prefer to stay in one region year-around. There are regular fall reports in New England, U.S and Nova Scotia, Canada.

These birds prefer dry, desolate, arid landscapes. They can be found on farmland, savanna and open woodlands, usually near water. They tend to be early migrants to the western U.S.

Diet
This species' diet is primarily insects. These insects include grasshoppers, flies, crickets, beetles and bees. However, it is disputed whether honey bees are actually suitable aspects of their diets. Their techniques for catching prey including taking it midair or pouncing on the insects while they are on the ground. They have also been observed to have consumed small fish at times. The diets of adult Say's Phoebes varies from that of nestlings, with the latter consuming a higher share of soft foods.

Communication
Like other Sayornis species, the Say's Phoebe is known to use "song-like" displays as its main form of communication. Their singing is characterized as having a very loud pitch to begin and then slowly leveling off into a more steady pitch. This initial peak pitch is a distinctive trait to the Say's Phoebe compared to its other Sayornis counterparts. They generally use this form of communication to countersing other birds, make its presence known when patrolling its territory, and in during the early stages of mating season. Almost all males do the singing, however, a select few females also engage in singing as well. Often times, the Say's Phoebe will sing while hovering over an open field.