Eastern Phoebe

Here's an Eastern Phoebe I recently met. This is another "harbinger of spring" bird; I'm a little too far north to see these birds year round (barring the occasional rebel bird that doesn't go along with the rest of its species).

It's in the tyrant flycatcher family of birds, the largest bird family. As you'd expect for a flycatcher, the Eastern Phoebe specializes in eating little arthropods. (They may look cute to you, but to a mosquito this is like having Jaws bearing down on them.) They are considered hardier than most flycatchers, returning north sooner than most of their (extended) family.

They get their name from their vocalization, which sounds sorta like "phoebe".

April 3, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 120284207, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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