They are related to waxwings, and like that group have a soft silky plumage, usually grey or pale yellow in colour. They have small crests.
These birds eat fruit or insects, and the Phainopepla is particularly dependent on Desert Mistletoe, Phoradendron californicum.
They are birds of various types of woodland (semi-desert with trees for the Phainopepla), and they nest in trees.
This family was formerly lumped with waxwings and Hypocolius in the family Bombycillidae, and they are listed in that family by the Sibley-Monroe checklist.
He noted (1951: 1, 1960: 20) that "suggestions for the union of the Bombycillidae, Ptilogonatidae, and the Dulidae in one family are not substantiated by examination of the skeleton.
The two species of the South American genus Entomodestes, placed in the Ptilogonatidae by Stejneger because of having faintly scutellate tarsi, were returned to the Turdidae, next to Myadestes, by Ridgway and later authors.
SUMMARY From the time of the discovery of Ptilogonys cinereus in 1824 until 1866, the silky flycatchers (Ptilogonatidae) and the genus Myadestes were considered to be related to one another and to the waxwings (Bombycilla).
The Phainopepla is the most northern of a group of tropical birds that feed on mistletoe.
The Phainopepla is one member of the Silky Flycatcher family, Ptilogonatidae, that includes such tropical birds as the Gray Silky-flycatcher, Ptilogonys cinereus, found in Sonora, México, Phainoptila melanoxantha, the Black-and-yellow Silky-flycatcher, and Ptilogonys caudatus, the Long-tailed Silky-flycatcher, found in Panama, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.
Phainopeplas are easily recognized by their longish tail, crest, red eye, conspicuous upright posture, vocalizations, and treetop perching behavior.
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