Eastern Phoebe

Sayornis phoebe

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family TYRANNIDAE - Subfamily Fluvicolinae

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

Perhaps the most familiar flycatcher in eastern North America, the Eastern Phoebe nests near people on buildings and bridges. It can be recognized by its emphatic "phee-bee" call and its habit of constantly wagging it tail.

Cool Facts

• In 1804, the Eastern Phoebe became the first banded bird in North America. John James Audubon attached silvered thread to an Eastern Phoebe's leg to track its return in successive years.

• The Eastern Phoebe is a loner, rarely coming in contact with other phoebes. Even members of a mated pair do not spend much time together. They may roost together a bit early in pair formation, but even during egg laying the female frequently chases the male away from her.

• The use of buildings and bridges for nest sites has allowed the Eastern Phoebe to tolerate the landscape changes made by humans and even expand its range. However, it still uses natural nest sites when they are available.

Description

• Size: 14-17 cm (6-7 in)
• Wingspan: 26-28 cm (10-11 in)
• Weight: 16-21 g (0.56-0.74 ounces)

• Small songbird.
• Dark grayish brown back and head.
• Lighter underparts.
• No eyering or conspicuous wingbars.
• Wags tail.

• Sits upright.
• Head and tail darker than back.
• Whitish underparts may be washed with yellow.
• Bill black.
• Eyes black.
• Feet black.

Sex Differences

Sexes alike.

Immature

Immature like adult, but with more yellow on belly and noticeable faint wingbars.

Similar Species

• Black Phoebe is darker with a dark chest.
• Eastern Wood-Pewee has distinct wingbars and does not wag tail.
• Empidonax flycatchers have distinct wingbars, usually have distinct eyerings, and do not wag their tails.

Sound

Song is two rough, whistled notes, "fee-bee" with the second note rasping or with a stuttered, more whistly second note "fee-b-be-bee." Call note a clear chip.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from southeastern Yukon and northeastern British Columbia eastward to Nova Scotia and southern Quebec, southward to central Texas, northern Mississippi, and central Georgia.

Winter Range

Winters from Maryland, West Virginia, very southern Illinois, and southeastern Oklahoma, southward to Florida, the Gulf Coast, and eastern Mexico.

Habitat

Found in woodlands and along forest edges, often near water.

Food

Flying insects. Occasional small fruits.

Behavior

Foraging

Flies from perch near ground and pursues flying insects. Also hovers and gleans insects from substrate.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest an open cup, cemented with mud to a wall close to a ceiling. Nest made of mud mixed with green moss and some leaves, lined with fine grass stems and hair. Placed under bridge, cliff, or eave of building.

Egg Description

Color: White, occasionally with a few reddish brown dots.

Size: 18.8-20.6 mm x 14.0-17.0 mm.
(0.73-0.81 in x 0.55-0.67 in)

Incubation period: 16 days.

Clutch Size

2-6 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless with sparse gray down.
Chicks fledge in 16-18 days.

Conservation Status

Populations stable or slightly increasing.

Other Names

Moucherolle phébi (French)
Mosquero fibi (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Weeks, H. P., Jr. 1994. Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe). In The Birds of North America, No. 94 (A. Poole, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.