New Bird: Say's Phoebe

Say's Phoebe, Sayornis saya, Tijuana Estuary Preserve, San Diego, California. These birds Summer up through Alaska and Winter as far South as Mexico while permanently residing in much of the lower half of their range. They are in the tyrant flycatcher family, so named because these birds will rest on a shrub, rock or, in this case, fence where they wait for passing bugs which are snatched up out of mid-air.

Say's Phoebe

This charming little bird would perch on the wire fence just about 20 feet. As I walked toward him, he would move a little further down the fence, as if I were playing tag. He was spotted at the Tijuana Estuary Preserve. I looked him up in "Birds of San Diego County," by Philip Unitt (which just showed up in the mail today). He is a Say's Phoebe, Sayornis Saya. It says these little guys are a fairly common Winter visitor on the coastal slope. The rest of the year they are found in open agricultural land, grassland, chaparral and desert scrub. They have been known to breed in the Anza Borrego Desert.