In addition to phainopepla, you might encounter La Conte’s thrashers, loggerhead shrikes or some of the other interesting residents such as kit foxes, coyotes or black-tailed jackrabbits. With Borrego Springs’ mild winter temperatures, this can be a wonderful time of the year to hike the area. It requires four-wheel drive or a short hike south from the end of the pavement on Old Springs Road in Borrego Springs, but the sandy area of the Borrego Sink, also known as the Mesquite Bosque, is dotted with mesquite trees and catclaw bushes that are very popular with the phainopepla. But the phainopepla is most abundant in the desert the rest of the year. He was unusually cooperative and allowed me to get several good photos. On one late spring morning, I spotted a beautiful male in the tall cottonwood tree next to my driveway in Escondido. While identified as a desert bird, the phainopepla is common in San Diego oak woodlands, riparian habitats and open chaparral from spring through summer. “It’s ingenious, and all organic with no pesticides or GMOs involved,” Pryde said.
I have to give credit to former San Diego Audubon Society President Phil Pryde for the farmer bird name suggestion. This, then, becomes a clever form of agriculture, as they deposit the seeds while perching on other trees and the seeds sprout into new clusters of mistletoe - and a future food supply.
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