Eastern Phoebe

Description:

The Eastern Phoebe is a small passerine bird. This species appears remarkably big-headed, especially if it puffs up the small crest. Its plumage is gray-brown above. It has a white throat, dirty gray breast and buffish underparts which become whiter during the breeding season. Two indistinct buff bars are present on each wing. Its lack of an eye ring and wingbars, and its all dark bill distinguish it from other North American tyrant flycatchers, and it pumps its tail up and down like other phoebes when perching on a branch.

Habitat:

This Eastern Phoebe was photographed at a bird bath on my back deck in Edgefield County, SC. Nearby is a south-eastern deciduous forest with oaks, hickories, and sweet gum along with an understory of maples and dogwood. This tyrant flycatcher breeds in eastern North America, although its normal range does not include the southeastern coastal United States. The breeding habitat of the Eastern Phoebe is open woodland, farmland and suburbs, often near water.

Notes:

The Eastern Phoebe's call is a sharp chip, and the song, from which it gets its name, is fee-bee. This phoebe is insectivorous, and often perches conspicuously when seeking food items. It also eats fruits and berries in cooler weather. It often nests on human structures such as bridges and buildings. Nesting activity may start as early as the first days of April. The nest is an open cup with a mud base and lined with moss and grass, built in crevice in a rock or man-made site; 2–6 eggs are laid. Both parents feed the young and usually raise two broods per year. The Eastern Phoebe is occasionally host to the nest-parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater).