Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe
Sayornis phoebe
Aves
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
5-10 yrs
Size
Small
Diet
Insectivore
Activity
Diurnal
Social
Solitary
Biome
Temperate woodland
Range
North America
Movement
Flight
Breeding
Egg-laying
Defense
Camouflage
Status
Common

About

A plain grey-brown flycatcher of eastern North America, easily told apart by its habit of pumping its tail up and down while perched. It gives its own name as its call, a raspy "fee-bee" sung from open perches near water.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    egg
    A small clutch of speckled eggs is incubated in a cup nest, turned and kept warm by the parent.
  2. 2.
    hatchling
    A pink, blind hatchling is fed by its parents in the nest, gaping its bill at every visit.
  3. 3.
    juvenile
    A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to fly and to forage close to its parents.
  4. 4.
    adult
    Fully grown with adult plumage and song.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Tyrannidae
Genus
Sayornis
Species
Sayornis phoebe