#1415 · 🐦 birds
Phainopepla
🇳🇱 Zwarte Zijdevliegenvanger ·Phainopepla nitens
📍 San Dionisio, B.C.S., México
📍 King Fisher Cir, Palm Desert, CA, US
📍 Live Oak Canyon, Redlands, CA, USA
📍 Presidio of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
📍 San Dionisio, B.C.S., México
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Alan Vernon · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
- 2. © Chris Rohrer · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Christopher Lindsey · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 4. © Lip Kee · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 5. © Scott Page · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 6. San Dionisio, B.C.S., México:© Osiel Flores · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 7. King Fisher Cir, Palm Desert, CA, US:© Robert Winter · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 8. Live Oak Canyon, Redlands, CA, USA:© guyincognito · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 9. Presidio of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA:© John Murnane · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 10. San Dionisio, B.C.S., México:© Osiel Flores · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The phainopepla or northern phainopepla ( Phainopepla nitens ) is the most northerly representative of the mainly tropical Central American family Ptiliogonatidae, the silky flycatchers. Its name is from the Greek phain pepla meaning "shining robe" in reference to the male's plumage.
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
- 22,745 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Weighs only about 20 g.
- Scientifically named by William Swainson in 1838 (188 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- Phainopepla
- Nederlands
- Zwarte Zijdevliegenvanger
- scientific name
- Phainopepla nitens
- class
- Aves
- order
- Passeriformes
- family
- Ptiliogonatidae
- IUCN Red List
- LC · least concern
- sightings in NL
- 0
- sightings worldwide
- 22,745
- GBIF records in NL
- 0
- weight
- 20 g
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1838 by William Swainson
IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 117002, Wikidata Q1188364, GBIF 2492885, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.