STATUS: Common.
HABITAT: Prefers pinyon-juniper woodlands of montane semidesert areas, live oak-yucca associations, and sycamores and cottonwoods in canyons. Also uses joshua-tree habitat.
SPECIAL HABITAT REQUIREMENTS: Yucca, pinyon-juniper, or oak trees in arid areas.
NEST: Constructs a cup-shaped nest with fibers of local grasses, weeds, and other vegetative material and suspends it from branches of almost any available tree, including joshua-trees and yucca plants.
FOOD: Probes flowers for nectar and small insects; also eats other insects, berries, and cactus fruits.
REFERENCES: Phillips et al. 1964, Terres 1980.