The Eastern Phoebe, Sayornis phoebe, is a small passerinebird. This tyrant flycatcher breeds in eastern North America, although its normal range does not include the southeastern coastal USA.
It is migratory, wintering in the southernmost USA and Central America. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
The breeding habitat of this bird is open woodland, farmland and suburbs, often near water. This is one of the first birds to return in spring and one of the last to leave in the fall. It often nests on human structures such as bridges and buildings. 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; 3-8 eggs are laid. Both parents feed the young and usually raise two broods per year.
This phoebe is insectivorous, and often perches conspicuously when seeking food items. It also eats fruits and berries in cooler weather.
This species is gray-brown above. It has a white throat, dirty gray breast and yellowish underparts which become whiter during the season. Its lack of an eye ring and wingbars, and its all dark bill distinguish it from other American flycatchers, and it pumps its tail up and down like other phoebes.
This bird's call is a sharp chip, and the song, from which it gets its name, is fee-bee.
External links
Link to maps and song download (http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/mlist/h4560.html) (Real Player)
The female EasternPhoebe builds her nest over a period of several days, usually situated in a recess on a rock ledge or on the steep wall of a ravine or gorge, often in a cave, and often around water.
Phoebes build extensively on man-made structures, locating their nest on a rafter inside of a building, on a ledge under the eve of a house, on windowsills, porch rafters, and on girders under bridges.
The Brown-headed Cowbird is a generalist brood parasite.
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