Phoebes Return: Eastern Phoebe

A fun sign of spring is the persistent song of the Eastern Phoebe (pronounced “fee-bee”), which returns to the Susquehanna Valley each year during the month of March.  The phoebe got its name from that song, as it sounds like it is repeatedly saying its own name.  These flycatchers are drably colored, but they have a lot of character and they’re fun to watch.  Like other flycatchers, they often perch prominently, watching for flying insects that they capture on the wing.  Phoebes are constantly in motion, bobbing their tail up and down while sitting on their perch.

All species of flycatchers leave Pennsylvania during the winter.  There are very few flying insects here during our coldest months, so they fly south to warmer climates.  However, the Eastern Phoebe doesn’t fly nearly as far as the other flycatchers.  Almost all of our flycatchers head to the tropics in southern Mexico, Central America, or South America.  Eastern Phoebes spend the winter in the southeastern United States and northern Mexico.  They winter regularly as far north as Maryland and Delaware, so every once in a while you might even find one here in Pennsylvania.  In nearly three decades of birding in Pennsylvania, I’ve seen two winter phoebes, one in State College in 2003 and another in Lancaster County in 2023.

With 442 species, the Tyrant Flycatcher family is the most diverse family of birds in the world.  They are found exclusively in North and South America.  Six flycatcher species nest in the Susquehana Valley each year, including the Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Kingbird, Great Crested Flycatcher, Acadian Flycatcher, and Willow Flycatcher.  After the phoebe’s arrival in March it is typically a month or more until the other five species arrive in late April or early May.  Four more species are primarily migrants in our region, passing through each spring and fall  – Alder Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, and Olive-sided Flycatcher.