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Eastern Phoebe

Sayornis phoebeOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

Eastern Phoebe Worn Summer Portrait
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General

Eastern Phoebe: Small flycatcher with dark gray-brown upperparts and slightly darker wings and tail. Underparts are pale with hint of olive-brown or yellow on sides and breast. Bill, legs, and feet are black. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Eastern Phoebe: Breeds north of the Mason-Dixon Line in North America; spends winters as far north as the Ohio River.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chip", "FEE-be"

Interesting Facts

  • The Eastern Phoebe was the first bird to be banded in North America. In 1804, John James Audubon used a silver thread attached to its leg to note when the bird would return each year.
  • Of the three Phoebe species, the Eastern Phoebe’s call most closely resembles its name.
  • Unlike most songbirds who must hear other birds to hone their vocalizations, an Eastern Phoebe raised in isolation will still sing a perfect song.
  • A group of flycatchers has many collective nouns, including an "outfield", "swatting", "zapper", and "zipper" of flycatchers.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Eastern Phoebe
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Flycatcher (Tyrannidae)_blue
Species Sayornis phoebe
Length7 Inches
Wingspan11.5 Inches

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Phoebe: Small flycatcher with dark gray-brown upperparts and slightly darker wings and tail. Underparts are pale with hint of olive-brown or yellow on sides and breast. Bill, legs, and feet are black. Feeds on insects, small fish, berries and fruit. Weak fluttering bouyant flight.

● Song: "chip", "FEE-be"

● Foraging & Feeding: Eastern Phoebe: Feeds on insects, small fish, berries, and fruits. Forages from atop tree branches and other perches, flying out to catch prey in mid-air; also gleans food from foliage, on the ground, and at the water surface.

● Breeding & nesting: Eastern Phoebe: Two to eight white eggs with occasional red brown spots are laid in a nest made of mud pellets covered with moss and lined with grass, weeds, leaves, hair, and feathers. Nest is normally built on top of an old nest, or attached to a building. Incubation is about 16 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Eastern Phoebe: Eastern Wood-Pewee has darker underparts, yellow lower mandible, two white wing-bars, different voice, and does not pump tail.

Flight Pattern

Weak buoyant fluttering flight with shallow wing beats.
Eastern Phoebe Worn Summer Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Eastern Phoebe: Breeds north of the Mason-Dixon Line in North America; spends winters as far north as the Ohio River.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
Population
MigrationMost migrate
Weight0.7 Ounces