Black Phoebe at San Luis Rey River Mouth

Here are some shots of the photogenic Black Phoebe. They like to sit out in the open, over the water, and are not very timid around people. So the challenge becomes to find interesting behaviors and backgrounds. Otherwise they become BOS ("bird on stick")--a rather dull photo.

Well, I didn't do any better with the background on these, but here they are anyway. The perch seems to be a dead stick and pickleweed (Salicornia). This individual has clean wide white fringes on the wing feathers, and pointed buff tips to the greater and lesser secondary coverts--forming the wingbars. Thus, I believe this is a juvenile bird just a few weeks old. Adults would have older, faded, worn wing and tail feathers that grew in last fall.

Black Phoebe. Oceanside, California. May 24, 2015. Greg Gillson.