Phainopepla - Phainopepla nitens

Lake Solano Park is one one of the best spots in the Bay Area to find the splendid Phainopepla, a bird that has no common name other than that of the genus. "Phainopepla" is said to mean "shining cloak", for the green iridescence of the adult male, as this in this shot from a prevous visit:

Here's the male on a high perch, scanning for insect:

The female Phainopeple shares the red iris and long crest, but is cloaked in muted gray:

Taxonomy: Phainopepla is one of only 4 species in the family "Silky-Flycatchers" (Ptilogonatidae) and the only species in the genus Phainopepla. There is no accepted common name, but "Southwest Silky" would have been nice, as it is seen mainly in California, Arizona and a bit of New Mexico, as well as in Mexico. The other 3 Silk-flycatchers are the Gray Silky (highlands of Mexico), the Black-and-yellow Silky-flycatcher (Costa Rica mountains), and the Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher (mts. of Costa Rica and Panama). And that's the whole family!

Phainopleplas eat berries (especially Mistletoe), and insects caught in mid-air. They breed in spring in the dessert, but summer in the oak woodlands in our valleys. It's uncertain whether this represents 2 different populations, or whether the same population might breed twice in one year, first in the desert and then again further north when food supplies are exhausted in the deserts and the birds move north. Or perhaps the "failed breeders" from the desert get a second change when they move north. Good discussion by Chu and Walsberg in Birds of North America #415."

And from the Wiki Account:

DIET: 

Berries, any small insects, fruits, vegetables. Phainopepla have a specialized mechanism in their gizzard that shucks berry skins off the fruit and packs the skins separately from the rest of the fruit into the intestines for more efficient digestion. So far this is the only known bird able to do this. They appear to relish the fruit of Phoradendron californicum, the desert mistletoe.

SONG:

Phainopeplas have been found to imitate the calls of twelve other species, such as the red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) and the northern flicker (Colaptes auratus).