From Opus

Photo by richard bledsoe
Lake Murray, San Diego, California, March 2006

Polioptila californica

[edit] Identification

Male

• Grey plumage
• Darker upperparts
• Black cap (in breeding plumage)
• Black eye line
• Long black
• White tipped and edged tail
  

Female: brownish back, flanks and belly

[edit] Distribution

Endemic to south-western California to southern Baja, Santa Margarita Island and Espírito Santo Island.

[edit] Taxonomy

Female
Photo by Marysan
San Diego, California, July 2004

This is a monotypic species^[1].

[edit] Habitat

Coastal sage scrub and scrubby hillsides.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Breeding

Nests in an open-cupped nest near the ground. 2-5 eggs are laid.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes leafhoppers, spiders, beetles, and bugs.

[edit] Vocalisation

Juvenile
Photo by Hyrax
Crystal cove, Costa Mesa, California, September 2008

Kittenlike mewing.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Audubon

• List of references

[edit] External Links