northeast-flora-and-fauna

This Eastern Kingbird is definitely on the fence, though it's (probably) not about indecision. While many of us are on the fence about who to vote for or what path to take in our social or professional lives, it seems like Eastern Kingbirds tend to be on the fence because ... (wait for it) ... they like fences [1]. More generally, these feisty birds seem to like being out in the open. Many birds seem to feel safer in hidden or obstructed spots but these birds - known for fighting significantly larger birds - are almost daring enemies to come out and challenge them. June 29, 2023 at Sourland Mountain Preserve Photo 301252575, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] They also like telephone lines and treetops that don't imply indecisiveness.

It looks like this Eastern Phoebe has caught a meal. Could it be a wasp? Although phoebes are tyrant flycatchers , I'm pretty sure they'll eat most insects including the hymenopterans . I think I see: A little bit of striping on the thorax, suggesting 1 of many bees/wasps or their mimics. An insect a little longer than a honeybee or bumblebee. This was the 2nd year in a row that I got a picture of a phoebe with food in its mouth . While we (correctly) think of phoebes as birds posing no threat to us, to many insects they are giant, ferocious predators. The Eastern Phoebe is almost certainly the tyrant flycatcher species I encounter the most, though Eastern Kingbirds and Great Crested Flycatchers aren't too hard to find either. May 18, 2023 at Willowwood Arboretum Photo 292812711, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Behold the majesty of the Eastern Kingbird ! This King of the Birds surveys its kingdom from its branch throne. Unfortunately for the Kingbird, many birds do not recognize its authority . In the bird world, they're probably considered more tyrants than kings however. Although they're on the small side (quite a bit smaller than American Robins and Northern Mockingbirds ), they're surprisingly willing to "mix it up" and attack far larger birds like crows, hawks, or herons [1] that they consider (perhaps correctly) to be a threat. This tyrannical behavior apparently gave them the "king" part of their common name [2] and the name of their family of birds, the tyrant flycatchers .  May 14, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 292808121, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] This doesn't seem to be a suicide mission. My guess is that their quickness and maneuverability usually saves them from dying in these encounters. [2] Though kings and tyrants aren...

Sometimes you get a pretty good picture of a bird but can't get a definitive identification. When I saw this bird I got an Eastern Phoebe vibe, probably because they're one of the flycatchers I see the most. (I also see quite a few Eastern Kingbirds , but their sharp dark-and-white plumage contrast immediately ruled them out.) Usually when I post these to iNaturalist , I have a pretty good idea of what the animal is, and usually iNaturalist confirms my identification with its identification suggestions. On this particular day, however, the iNaturalist suggestions weren't working, so I just went with my initial thought. I was a little surprised to see responses suggesting smaller but similar-looking flycatchers. When this happens, I do what I normally do: I post the picture to the What's This Bird FB page , run by the American Birding Association. Though I've sometimes seen some spirited debates there, almost all the time they settle on an identification pretty quic...

I met this Eastern Kingbird a couple weeks ago. This is a bird I usually see in a season, though rarely often. I talked a bit about them before. They're almost famous for their aggression towards other birds they consider to be a threat, including birds that are quite a bit larger than they are like hawks, crows, or herons. This tyrannical behavior is behind their scientific name of Tyrannus tyrannus. If you see a white and nearly black bird singlehandedly dive bombing larger birds, you might be seeing an Eastern Kingbird. Though they'll readily eat fruit (especially outside of breeding season), these birds are flycatchers like the Eastern Phoebe and the Great Crested Flycatcher . All 3 have closer relatives than each other, though those relatives tend to live outside New Jersey. May 18, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 203066566, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's another picture of an Eastern Phoebe , this one from last autumn. They are in the tyrant flycatcher family, so it won't surprise you that small invertebrates are on their menu. Ornithologists generally consider this to be the largest family of birds, though it's possible that the family might get split into smaller families as we learn more. Here in New Jersey we're basically at the southern edge of the Eastern Phoebe's breeding range; some of them breed well into Canada. And we theoretically don't see them in the winter, probably because of the challenges of finding invertebrates to eat in winter.  The Eastern Phoebe gets its name from its "fee-bee" call, but not all fee-bees are from phoebes; the Black-capped Chickadee makes a similar sound, though with phoebes the call is shorter than the chickadee one. These birds are generally loners, coming together to breed but then generally parting ways. Though they'll certainly catch flies, why a...

Here's another Great Blue Heron I met a couple months ago at Round Valley. I did think the coloring was more vivid in this bird than I usually see in Great Blues. They are supposed to molt into their somewhat brighter feathers prior to breeding season, and the lighting must have been fairly favorable. One cool thing about being a Great Blue is that when you're scanning the water looking for a good place to fish, it can look like your staring across the water contemplating the mysteries of life. Yesterday I mentioned that Eastern Kingbirds will drive herons away from an area. Both these birds were at the reservoir, though there was a small cove between them. I suspect that the heron was sufficiently far away that the kingbird didn't feel obligated to try and drive it away, though it's possible that the heron is on the kingbird's TODO list. May 20, 2021 at Round Valley Reservoir Photo 132040157, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's an Eastern Kingbird I met a couple months back. They are one of the tyrant flycatcher species, many of which have a very slight overbite (or over-beak?) that probably helps keep insects they catch from escaping. (You can't see this well in my picture, but up close you'd certainly notice it if it were pointed out to you.) Similar to swallows, these guys can snatch insects right out of the air, though they'll sometimes forage on insects that aren't in flight. Like a lot of birds, they switch to a more vegetarian diet outside of breeding season. But while a vegetarian diet is forced on most birds that stay in NJ during the winter when insects are scarce, for the migrating Eastern Kingbird the vegetarian diet seems more like a lifestyle choice. They migrate down to Amazon rainforests where I suspect insects would still be plentiful. These birds are considered fairly feisty, and will harass/pester crows, hawks, or herons that are a potential threat to them or th...