The genus Sayornis is a small group of medium-sized insect-eating birds, known as phoebes, in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae.

The genus Sayornis that was introduced by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854 with black phoebe (Sayornis nigricans) as the type species.

[2][3] The genus name is constructed from the specific part of Bonaparte's name for Say's phoebe, Muscicapa saya, and Ancient Greek ornis meaning "bird".

These birds wait on a perch and then catch insects, usually in pairs.

[6] They aren't fond of dense forests, and prefer low perches.