Say's Phoebe (Sayornis saya) [XC539294]
by Bobby Wilcox from Hidden Beaches, Blythe, Riverside County, California, United States (call)
Say's Phoebe (Sayornis saya) [XC562439]
by id from Mt. Whitney Fish Hatchery, Inyo County, California, United States (call)
Subspecies
Taxonomy yet to be fully resolved, and analysis confounded by problems of wear and fading in museum specimens. Geographical variation in colour weak, perhaps clinal, with paler coloration in arid environments. Birds from Alaska and north-western Canada described as subspecies yukonensis and those of Mexican Plateau as pallida; both merged with nominate, although further research may indicate that one or both should be upheld.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
saya (Bonaparte, 1825) - Northern Alaska south through western and west-central USA to central Mexico. Winters from southern USA (California east to Texas) south to central and southern Mexico.
quiescens Grinnell, 1926 - North-western Mexico (northern Baja California and Cedros I).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet