Black Phoebe
Sayornis nigricans
Black Phoebe · San Diego · 6 March 2026
A Black Phoebe perched upright on a bare twig over the water in classic flycatcher posture, watching for insects to sally out after. It is a bird of the Southwest and Mexico, rarely far from water, and resident year-round wherever it is found, unlike most of the other flycatchers on this coast, which pass through only on migration.
The habit is regular enough that a Black Phoebe's favourite perch can be predicted from one visit to the next. It returns to the same twig after every sally, and a pond with a phoebe has a phoebe on the same stick every morning.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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