You could call them jet setters, or maybe farmer birds, but for sure, the active little phainopepla is one of San Diego’s more interesting bird species.

Also known as the black cardinal, this busy little bird is often thought of as strictly a desert dweller. But the phainopepla lives a country club life, moving to more moderate climates in the summer, then back to the desert for the rest of the year. With distinctive topknots on both male and female birds, this is an easy bird to identify if you get close enough. From a distance, they can be identified by their color, shape and distinctive flight pattern.

The males are a silky jet black, and the females are gray with their wing feathers edged in off-white. They are sleek birds, about 71/2 inches in length with long tail feathers and a wingspan of just under a foot.

When in flight, the males display white patches on their wings, and they fly in an up-and-down motion. They are nervous birds, often seen perched at the very top of trees and shrubs, where they can spot any approaching threat.


If you want to add the phainopepla to your life list, this is a good time to do it. They are now hanging out in the desert, and, frankly, this is a great time of the year there, with generally sunny days and mild weather to enjoy.

It’s also this habitat that suggests they be called farmer birds. While in the desert, they feed on native vegetation and insects, but by far their favorite food is the tiny berries of desert mistletoe; they will often consume more than 1,000 berries a day.

This, then, becomes a clever form of agriculture, as they deposit the seeds while perching on other trees and the seeds sprout into new clusters of mistletoe — and a future food supply.

I have to give credit to former San Diego Audubon Society President Phil Pryde for the farmer bird name suggestion.


“It’s ingenious, and all organic with no pesticides or GMOs involved,” Pryde said.

The female phainopepla also has the topknot but is gray with wing feathers edged in off-white. (ERNIE COWAN)

While identified as a desert bird, the phainopepla is common in San Diego oak woodlands, riparian habitats and open chaparral from spring through summer. On one late spring morning, I spotted a beautiful male in the tall cottonwood tree next to my driveway in Escondido. He was unusually cooperative and allowed me to get several good photos. But the phainopepla is most abundant in the desert the rest of the year.

It requires four-wheel drive or a short hike south from the end of the pavement on Old Springs Road in Borrego Springs, but the sandy area of the Borrego Sink, also known as the Mesquite Bosque, is dotted with mesquite trees and catclaw bushes that are very popular with the phainopepla.


With Borrego Springs’ mild winter temperatures, this can be a wonderful time of the year to hike the area. In addition to phainopepla, you might encounter La Conte’s thrashers, loggerhead shrikes or some of the other interesting residents such as kit foxes, coyotes or black-tailed jackrabbits.

If you are a bird photographer hoping to get a good image of the black cardinal, here are a couple of tips:

▪ They are creatures of habit and often return to the same perch, which frequently is the tallest tree branch in the area. You can confirm their preference for these sites by looking for little piles of deposited mistletoe seeds below the perch.

▪ Once you have located a perch, be patient. If you spot a phainopepla and try to approach, generally it will quickly fly away. But if you bring a comfortable chair and, even better, a little pop-up blind, you can set up near the perch and wait. It won’t take long for the birds to arrive.


Phainopeplas are resident birds of the Southwest. They occupy a limited range from western Texas to California and south into Mexico.

Cowan is a freelance writer. Contact him at BirdandErnie@gmail.com