Sayornis

The genus Sayornis is a small group of medium-sized insect-eating birds, known as phoebes, in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae.

Taxonomy

The genus Sayornis that was introduced by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854 with black phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) as the type species.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The genus name is constructed from the specific part of Bonaparte's name for Say's phoebe, Muscicapa saya, and Ancient Greek ornis meaning "bird".<ref name=job>Template:Cite book</ref> The English Phoebe is a name for the Roman moon-goddess Diana.<ref name=OED>Template:Cite OED</ref> A large molecular phylogenetic study of the tyrant flycatcher family published in 2020 found that Sayornis was sister to the genus Empidonax.<ref name=harvey>Template:Cite journal A high resolution version of the phylogenetic tree in Figure 1 is available from the first author's website here.</ref>

Description and ecology

They are native to North and South America.

They prefer semi-open or open areas near water. These birds wait on a perch and then catch insects, usually in pairs. Their nest is an open cup sometimes placed on man-made structures.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They aren't fond of dense forests, and prefer low perches.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

They often slowly lower and raise their tails while perched.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Species

The genus contains three species:<ref name=ioc>Template:Cite web</ref>

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
	Sayornis phoebe	Eastern phoebe	Eastern North America
	Sayornis nigricans	Black phoebe	United States, Mexico and Central America, and parts of South America
	Sayornis saya	Say's phoebe	United States and Canada