Sayornis nigricans
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The black phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) is a passerine bird in the tyrant-flycatcher family. It breeds from southwest Oregon and California south through Central and South America. It occurs year-round throughout most of its range and migrates less than the other birds in its genus though its northern populations are partially migratory. Six subspecies are commonly recognized although two are occasionally combined as a separate species, the white-winged phoebe.
The black phoebe has predominantly black plumage, with a white belly and undertail coverts. The sexes are identical in color, and juveniles have brown feather tips and brown wing-bars. Its song is a repeated tee-hee, tee ho. It lives in a variety of habitats but is always near water. It is mainly insectivorous and waits on a perch before sallying out and catching its prey in the air. It makes an open cup nest which is placed under a cliff or a bridge and cemented in its place with mud.
The black phoebe is a medium-sized flycatcher, being 16 cm (6.3 in) in length and weighing 15 to 22 g (0.5 to 0.8 oz). It has predominantly black plumage, with white on its belly and undertail coverts. The white forms an inverted... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tijuana | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 9 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black Phoebe sighting in San José on a given day, based on 1,360 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 65th most-seen of the 379 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–May and July–December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black Phoebe in San José on a given day, against under 5% in January–March and June, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black Phoebe sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
18th of 27
Of the 27 cities where we can rate Black Phoebe sightings, San José ranks 18th at about 10%. The best odds are in Tijuana (México, about 80%), Sacramento (United States, about 80%) and Los Angeles (United States, about 80%).
Same family: Tyrannidae
The closest relatives of the Black Phoebe that you can see in San José (family Tyrannidae, Tyrant Flycatchers) are Great Kiskadee (about 80%), Tropical Kingbird (about 70%) and Social Flycatcher (about 60%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black Phoebe is recorded against all the birds logged in San José (1,360 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
