Eastern Phoebe: how to recognise it
A bird of North America. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Kerry Carloy · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Sayornis phoebe
- Family
- Tyrant Flycatchers
- Size
- About 16 cm
- Habitat
- Woodland edges, farms and streams
- Found in
- North America
The key marks
A grey-brown flycatcher with a darker head, dingy whitish underparts and no wing bars, that often wags its tail. Say's Phoebe has a rusty-cinnamon belly, a paler breast and a blackish tail.
Voice
A hoarse 'fee-bee' that says its name.
Good to know
It builds a mud-and-moss nest on a ledge under bridges and eaves.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Say's Phoebe. Look at the marks above one by one rather than the overall colour, and practise telling the two apart with real photos.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in woodland edges, farms and streams. It is especially common in Texas. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.