Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
HABITAT: Found in the arid Southwest, occuring almost exclusively near water. Favor wooded groves of cottonwood, willow, oak, mesquite, and sycamore bordering rivers, especially near open, brushy, grassy, or agricultural fields. Also occurs in widely spaced junipers and oaks, and in dry washes on the plains.
NEST: Builds nest on a small, horizontal forked branch usually 8 to 20 feet, but sometimes 40 to 50 feet, above the ground, and usually near a stream or other source of water. Nests in willow, sycamore, mesquite, cottonwood, oak, paloverde, hackberry, and other trees and bushes.
FOOD: Forages from a conspicuous perch, often only a few feet above the ground or water, for insects such as bees, grasshoppers, and small beetles.
REFERENCES: Bent 1942, Harrison 1979, Johnsgard 1979, Taylor and Hanson 1970, Terres 1980, Terrill in Farrand 1983b.