Phainopepla

Found in desert washes and mesquite thickets of the southwestern United States and Mexico, where it perches upright atop shrubs and small trees, often near mistletoe clumps whose berries form the bulk of its diet. The male's glossy black plumage and prominent crest, or the female's soft grey, are best picked out against open desert scrub in winter and early spring when mistletoe fruits are abundant. Listen for its soft, querulous whistled call given from an exposed perch.