What are the
signs of spring that you watch for each year? Birds returning and flowers
blooming, insects hatching, frogs calling, chipmunks scurrying…these are all
milestones on the way to our brief summer of warmth and sun.
One of my
favorite early-birds is the Eastern Phoebe. These dusky brown flycatchers spend
the winter in the southern U.S. or Mexico, and they are one of the earliest of
our feathered friends to return each spring. They have learned to tolerate a
human-altered landscape quite well, and often build their moss and mud nests on
bridges, barns, and homes.
The first
time I noticed a Phoebe as a beginning birder I was completely baffled. They do
not have striking markings or colors to make them stand out in the bird
book. As I have become a better birder,
I have realized that it is their call and their behavior not their looks that
are helpfully distinctive.
Phoebes
often perch low in trees or on fence lines, where their plump body and large
flat-topped head give them a distinctive silhouette. Not only is their shape
distinctive, but they also wag their tails down and up frequently as they watch
for flying insects. Then they zip out to catch the bug, and often return to the
same perch.
Their shape
and behavior is similar to other flycatchers. In northern Wisconsin, we have
about eight species of flycatchers, including Least and Great-Crested
Flycatchers, Eastern Kingbirds, and Wood-Pewees. Some flycatchers look so
similar to each other that voice is the primary field mark. However, none of
these commonly nest on your porch!
Phoebes are
very helpful to folks who are learning to “bird by ear,” because they say their
own name. The song is a raspy, two-parted “fee-bee,” or a variation on that
with a stutter in the second half. Like most birds, males are more vocal than
females.
Other
songbirds will spend one period of brain development memorizing songs of
adults, and the next phase trying to match them. If a songbird does not grow up
with adults of its own species, or is deaf, it does not develop a normal song.
Phoebes do not need to do either! They do not need to hear other adults in
order to produce the typical Phoebe song, and they do not even need to hear
themselves to know that they are pronouncing their name correctly.
We have two
lovely Phoebe nests in a display at the Museum.
It is sometimes tempting to collect Phoebe nests on your own because
bird nests are fun to examine, and Phoebe nests are easy to find. However, Phoebes often reuse their nests
within the same season, or even the next year. In addition, it is illegal for
you to possess bird nests without the proper permits. There would be no way for
you to prove that you did not dump the babies of a protected species on the
ground when you collected the nest. It
is best to admire them in nature where you find them.
With my
neighborhood Phoebes calling cheerfully, darting out to catch insects, and
building a nest, it feels like a great start to the spring. Let me know what is happening in your yard!
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