From Opus

Photo by Leslie
Westlake Village, California.

Pheucticus melanocephalus

[edit] Identification

19cm
Male

• Black head, wings and tail with prominent white patches
• Dark to tawny orange breast
• Yellow belly

Female

• Brown head, neck and back with black streaks
• White streaks down the middle of the head, over the eyes and on the cheeks
• White breast
• Greyish brown wings and tail, with two white wing bars and yellowish wing edges.

[edit] Distribution

Southwestern British Columbia, western half of the United States, into central Mexico.

Photo by Larry D SmithFemale

[edit] Taxonomy

There are 2 subspecies:

• P. m. melanocephalus
• P. m. maculatus

[edit] Habitat

Deciduous and mixed wooded areas with large trees, thick bushes, streamside corridors, river bottoms, lakeshores, wetlands, and suburban areas.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet includes pine and other seeds, berries and insects, spiders and fruit.

[edit] Breeding

The female builds the saucer-shaped nest 3-35' up in a broad-leaved tree or shrub. It is constructed from grass, twigs, bark, conifer needles, etc and lined with hair and other fine material.

The clutch which consists of 2-5 pale green, blue or grey eggs (with red or dark brown spots) is incubated by both sexes for 12-14 days. Fledging is around 11-12 days, but flight takes a further 2 weeks. Both adults feed the young.

[edit] References

1. Wikipedia
2. Answers.com

[edit] External Links