I met up with a high school friend the other day who I hadn't seen for over 17 years. It felt more like two or three; isn't it amazing how that works? I guess neither of us has changed much since high school (i.e. we are still weird). I will take this as a good thing.
One of the many, many things we talked about was our favorite bird of all time, the Phainopepla. This is a smallish, shiny black bird with red eyes and a crest on its head that eats mistletoe berries. Not terribly exciting but the best thing about the Phainopepla is its name. Most birds have such boring names as finch, sparrow, hawk, etc. Not this little fellow; oh, no he has the grandiose, Greek-derived name of Phainopepla, which means "shining robe". Surely this bird must have some magical powers! Unfortunately, it doesn't, although my friend's daughter doesn't believe it's a real bird, which might count as being a magical being. Or maybe not. Anyway, it's a cool bird and one of the denizens of the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden.
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