EAPH

Name: Eastern Phoebe
AOU abbrev: EAPH
Length: 7"
Wingspan: 10.5"
Weight: 0.7 oz (20 g)

Sibley
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Found in open areas, usually near water. Chooses low, conspicuous perches and dips tail in a characteristic motion.

Larger than Empidonax and wood-pewee. Relatively longer-tailed, with dark head and tail, black bill, weak wing-bars.

Juvenile (Jun-Nov) Dark head, smudge on sides of breast, yellow belly, dark tail.

Voice: Song of two rough, whistled phrases usually alternated "seeeriddip, seebrrr, seeeriddip, seebrrr ..." Also gives clear, whistled "weew" or "tiboo" and abrupt "wijik" year-round. Common call a distinctive, simple chip: high, clear, and descending.

Kaufman Field Guide
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Slim flycatcher that perches upright, wagging or dipping their tails downward in a gentle movement.

One of the earliest spring migrants to return in the northeast, the phoebe sings its name as it perches low along streams, wagging its tail down-up repeatedly.

Shows strong contrast between whitish throat and sooty brown head. Otherwise rather plain, off-white below, gray-brown above, with no obvious marks. In fresh fall plumage, has yellow wash below, faint wing-bars.

Callnote: sharp "peep".
Song: soft "fee-bee" second note lower, with a rolled or burry quality.

Stokes songs
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Song is the rough alternation of two similar songtypes with slightly different endings, "fee-beee" (buzzy ending) and "fee-britit" (chippy ending), the first songtype is given more frequently.
A high-pitched "chip" is the alarm note.

Kaufman North American Birds
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Seemingly quite tame, it often nests around buildings and bridges, where it its easily observed.

Habitat: Streamsides, farms, woodland edges. In breeding season, typically found near water in woodland or semi-open country. In migration and winter, found around edges of woods, brushy areas, often near water.

Feeding: Diet consists of mostly insects and some berries. Insects make up great majority of summer diet, including small wasps, bees, beetles, flies, true bugs, grasshoppers, and others. Also eats some spiders, ticks, and millipedes. Small fruits and berries are eaten often in cooler months.

Behavior: Foreages by watching from a perch and flying out to catch insects. Most are caught in midair, some are taken from foliage while hovering briefly. Also drops to the ground to pick up insects. Perches in shrubs or trees to eat berries.

Conservation status: Population probably increased as buildings and bridges provided many more potential nesting sites. Current numbers are apparently stable.

Birds of Toledo
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Status: Uncommon migrant; uncommon to rare summer resident.

Habitat: Woods edges and shady places, often near water.

Phoebes are the first flycatchers to return in the spring, arriving a month or more before other members of the family. In the fall, they sometimes linger into November, and there are several December records. Their propensity to feed near bodies of water probably aids their survival during cold snaps, since midges and stoneflies -- insects with aquatic larval stages -- continue to swarm actively over rivers and ponds from March through November.

Earliest and latest dates of occurrence are March 5, 1988 and December 31, 1989.

The largest number seen in one day was 30 on April 4, 1993.

Birds of Ohio
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Populations declined between the 1940s and 1960s. Populations have apparently stabilized since the mid-1960s. Harsh winters can reduce numbers.

Our hardiest flycatchers, Eastern Phoebes may appear with the first warm weather -- along Lake Erie by February 25 - March 2.

They normally become widely distributed by mid-March, and maximum abundance is attained between March 15 and April 10. During these weeks, they become fairly common to common migrants.

In recent years, most spring reports are of ten or fewer daily, with infrequent flights of 20-30+. Few migrants are detected after April 20-25.

Eastern Phoebes are uncommon to faily common during autumn. Most fall sightings are of six or fewer daily and the largest movements total 15-25.

Phoebes regularly appear at lakefront migrant traps by the first week of August. The disappearance of resident pairs during late July is also indicative of an early migration.

Only small numbers of migrants are detected before September, and their peak passage is expected between September 15 and October 10. Their numbers noticeably diminish after October 20-25.

The number of Eastern Phoebes lingering into December and early January has noticeably increased since 1990. Statewide totals of 20-33+ have been reported on Christmas Bird Counts following mild autumn seasons, while only five or fewer may be counted when early winter weather has been harsh.

Dunne's Field Guide
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"The Bridge Pewee"

Status: Common to fairly common breeder

Habitat: Has adapted well to humans and often chooses to use human structures -- most notably bridges and buildings -- to secure nests. In migration, also favors woodlands and woodland edge; in spring, frequently found around lakeshores and ponds. In winter, also partial to wooded swamps.

Cohabitants: Barn Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Louisiana Waterthrush.

Movement/Migration: The earliest returning and the latest departing flycatcher. In spring, birds may arrive before water is free of ice.

Description: A slender, conservatively cloaked, medium-sized flycatcher with a jaunty tail. The head is large and rounded, the all-black bill is fairly small, and the tail is long and animate. Overall a slim, trim, nicely proportioned bird that seems longer, less angular, and more smoothly contoured than a wood-pewee.

In all plumages, plain dusky gray above, with a contrastingly darker face/crown and tail. Underparts are whitish with a pale broken shadow of a vest. In fall, immature birds are commonly washed with yellow below.

Behaviour: Sits nearly erect on a conspicuous perch or on the forest edge, generally less than 20 ft. high and often close to buildings when breeding. The bird signs its name with its tail, moving it with a measured down-pumping action, sometimes closed, sometimes slightly flared, often raised with a sideways swish.

Sallies out to snatch insects from leaves, and also lands to grab insects from the ground. Tame, often allowing close approach. Generally solitary, but tolerant of other species that also use man-made structures, such as Barn Swallow and American Robin.

Flight: Overall slender and long-tailed. Flight is quick, direct, and not undulating, but slightly jaunty, bouncy, or buoyant.

Voice: Song is a brisk, somewhat burry, assertive, ascending, two-note, whistled rendition of its name "ZweebEE" followed after a brief pause by an abbreviated, descending, and more casually uttered "z-b'r" : "SweebEE" (pause) "z-b'r".

Call is a distinctive, sharp, prolonged "chhip" that drags or hesitates at the start and ends sharply and emphatically. Sometimes has a plaintive, tentative, or questioning quality.

Misc: Pewees are overall more compact and angular, with longer bills (yellow on the lower mandible), larger peaked heads, and twitchless tails. Pewees usually inhabit deeper woodland, range higher in the tree (often in the canopy), and are shyer around humans, more high-strung in their movements, and more aggressive toward other species.

But when all else fails, the presence of white or buffy wing-bars on pewees and their all but absence on Eastern Phoebe is affirming or disaffirming.