Western Bird Guide: Birds of the Rockies and West to the Pacific

by Charles K. Reed

PHAINOPEPLA.

620. Phainopepla nitens. 7½ inches.

These are found from central California to Texas and into Mexico. In habits they are very much like the preceding, and the female is quite similar in looks, while the male is a rich shining blue black, with a long pointed crest, and a white patch on the wings. Their food consists of insects and small berries. They build loosely constructed nests, with a more compact lining of plant down. They lay two or three eggs of a light gray, spotted with brown (.88 × .65).