Say's Phoebe

About Blake Shaw

I am a photographer based in San Diego. I now specialize in bird photography, but also regularly photograph scenes of Mexico, Route 66, tennis, bicycle racing, flowers, and people. My work hangs in galleries in San Diego and elsewhere, and I am available for slide shows, lectures, and exhibitions.

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Say's Phoebe

I photographed this Say's Phoebe at Estero Beach last month.

I think it's unusually dark for a Say's Phoebe. I haven't found any photos online that show a bird this dark. I could be the lighting, or it could be that the bird may have been wet- there was a sprinkler running nearby (though I don't see any water droplets at high magnification). The subspecies of Say's Phoebe found in Baja California is supposed to be lighter in color, not darker, than other Say's Phoebes.

It was, however, making Say's Phoebe calls, and there was another Say's Phoebe nearby. The final photo was taken one day earlier at the same location, which may or may not be the same bird, but it looks a bit more like a typical Say's Phoebe.

I lay on my belly in the grass to get these eye-level shots.