Fee-bee

    I'm glad that most of the leaves have fallen off the trees, its much easier to look for birds.  I like birdwatching. . . but, boy, do I find it frustrating. . .especially in the summer.  There are lots of different kinds of birds, you can tell by the variety of calls.  However, trying to find them in the summer with all of the leaves on the trees is painstaking and often, in my case, fruitless.
    I think that is why I am fond of eastern phoebes.  I don't really have to worry about finding them.  They are also very interesting birds to watch and easy to identify.  However, it continues to amaze me that most people don't recognize a phoebe. 
    The eastern phoebe is not a year-round resident in western Pennsylvania, but it is one of the first birds to arrive in the spring and one of the last to leave in the fall.  It eats some seeds and fruit, but it mostly enjoys insects.  It is fond of wasps, bees, flies, beetles, and moths, according to Wildlife of Pennsylvania by Charles Fergus (one of my go-to natural history books).
    Phoebes are one of the few species that seems to have benefited from the human population growth in North America.  They like to build their nest on human structures.  At Lutherlyn, we have had them nest near both primary doors to the Environmental Education Center.  We caught this picture just above our back door this summer:



Phoebe nestlings (Photo by John Miller)

  
They also nest in most of our picnic shelters and, now, in the new Worship and Music Center.  At home, I've had them nest under our porch and under the garage roof.  When you approach a phoebe nest, the parent leaves, but he/she doesn't go far.  This makes phoebes very easy to spot.  Well, this and the fact that they continually flick their tails.



(photo by  Tim at http://www.flickr.com/photos/seabamirum/)


    I appreciate birds that have characteristics that make their species easy to identify - like the tail flick of the phoebes.  The eastern phoebe even helps by telling you its name.  Their most common call during most of the summer is fee-bee.
    According to the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, eastern phoebes may have been the first bird to be banded.  It seems that John James Audubon wrapped a piece of silver wire around the leg of a phoebe in 1840 and recorded its return in 1841.
     Phoebes construct very sturdy nests. They create a base using mud and attach the nest to just about any shelf-like projection.  They then use grasses and other fibers to make a circular nest cavity.  The outer part of the nest is often covered with pieces of moss, as in the picture above.  The nest is lined with fine grasses or hair for a very soft interior.
     Now is a good time to go looking for bird nests.  With the leaves down, it is easier to see them.  Take a ruler with you when you find one and measure the nest's outside diameter, height, inside diameter, and depth of cavity.  Most birds build rather specific nests and with these measurements, and The Peterson Field Guide to Birds' Nests, you can often identify what bird made the nest.
     When March's warm weather returns, keep your eyes and ears open for the phoebes - they will be telling you their name. . .if you take time to listen.