Say's Phoebe, Sayornis saya, photographed at Point Reyes, California, USA.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 27 December 2010 [velociraptorize].
Nikon D200 1/320s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400
Question: If you were standing next to the photographer when he snapped this picture, would you be in the mountains, on the coast, or in a city?
Response: This is an adult Say's Phoebe, Sayornis saya, which is found on throughout the western side of North America. In the winter, this species' range contracts to Mexico. The southern-most portion of the population is sedentary.
If you were standing next to the photographer when he snapped this picture, you'd be on the coast of southern California. That said, this species preferred habitat is semi-arid regions of western North America.
Joseph Kennedy, the photographer, shares a little more about the circumstances of lighting and weather when he snapped the image, and tells a bit about his diagnosis of the bird's identity:
I took these pictures in a briefly bright spot on an otherwise partly cloudy and foggy day, which made the colors odd. Sort of out of frustration with the constant rain and gloom of my trip. Strongly backlit by both sky and ocean.
The lighting accentuated the dark on the head of the bird which is likely a migrant from up north rather than the lighter colored inland California birds. The dark square tail that contrasts with the back is the field mark one uses when they fly away, which they did a good job of doing on this trip.
The habitat on outer Point Reyes is also Say's phoebe country and it was a great winter for them in coastal California. The pinkish belly is hidden and the bird never turned around but the attached [below] shows a little more of the color.
A second look at that Say's Phoebe, Sayornis saya, photographed at Point Reyes, California, USA.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 27 December 2010 [velociraptorize].
Nikon D200 1/320s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400
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