Say's Phoebe

The Say's Phoebe, Sayornis saya, is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family.

Adults have brownish-grey upperparts with an orange-brown belly and light grey on the throat and breast. Juveniles have cinnamon wing bars; adults have no wing bars.

Their breeding habitat is dry open or semi-open areas across western North America from Alaska to Mexico. They make an open cup nest in a natural or man-made cavity or on a ledge.

These birds migrate to southern Mexico. They are permanent residents in the southern parts of their range.

They wait on a perch on a shrub or rock and fly out to catch insects in flight, also foraging by hovering over fields. They sometimes eat some berries.

The song is a quick pit-see-ar. The call is a whistled pee-ee.

The numbers of this bird are declining, probably due to loss of habitat in its winter range.

This bird was named for Thomas Say, an American naturalist.