The Winged Gardner

by Pat Flanagan

Since November the whistling call of the phainopepla has been heard at the Oasis. This distinctive black bird can be seen in good numbers perching on the bare branches of the mulberry trees and flying around the fan palms. Phainopepla—not an easy name to pronounce but it is the common name and means “shining robe”. Male phainopeplas are a medium sized silky black bird with a distinctive crest and bright red eyes, a long tail, and white wing patches visible in flight. The female and juveniles are grey.  A careful look at our congregation shows the majority are grey, and I suspect many of them are juveniles.

Although this bird is considered resident, some southern California desert populations are known to leave the heat in June for the coast, returning by September or October. Nesting dates from the Anza-Borrego desert to the south start in early February with fledglings by early May and departure by June. A second nesting on the coast in oak or riparian woodland or chaparral, fledges birds from June to August. The tired adults and the youngsters have now arrived back at their desert home. The abundant crop of small dates on the fan palms around the oasis probably accounts for their large numbers.

Phainopeplas are the most northerly of the neotropical silky flycatchers, birds that feed on mistletoe berries. The main desert host for mistletoe is the mesquite tree. And the

main winter food for the phainopepla is mistletoe berries. Phainopeplas spend hours perching on mesquite and, either in their droppings or while cleaning their beaks, deposit the sticky mistletoe seeds on the branches of mesquite. Unwitting farmers, the bird plants its own food. You can easily find mesquite with large piles of berries sticking to their branches.

Mistletoe is a hemiparasite, which means it is able to photosynthesize or make its own food, but acquires water and nutrients by attaching to the host tree’s internal plumbing. To successfully reproduce the mistletoe seed must land on the branch of its host and be able to remain long enough to attach its plumbing into the host. Voila, the phainopepla, master planter.

Mistletoe has a bad reputation as a killer of trees. But research does not bear this out. It is dependent on the nutrients absorbed by its host which limits its size. If mistletoe appears to be overtaking the host some other problem is probably the cause. Studies have shown that mistletoe is important to both plants and animals and may act as a dumping ground for excess nutrients that the host cannot absorb. The web site for Las Pilitis, a California native plant nursery, describes what to plant in order to attract both mistletoe and phainopeplas to your garden.

For additional information see

The Natural History of the Sonoran Desert.2000. University of California Press.

Photo : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phainopepla