One of the "early birds" of spring is the hardiest of the flycatchers, the eastern phoebe. Many phoebes never leave the piedmont and tidewater forests of Virginia, and in some cases they'll tough out the winter along protected mountain streams, as long as water is moving. Those that had meandered southward will begin returning as early as late January. Since its main diet consists of flying insects, it lives mainly near water where insect hatches occur at all times of the year. It also feeds on caterpillars, beetles and other crawling insects. In the pinch, it probably feeds on dried wild fruits, especially small berries.

     Trout anglers, hikers, and even deer hunters, come in contact with this plain-looking bird regularly. It’s a medium-sized, nondescript bird that flits quietly away from and around a hiker as he or she walks a trail near an outbuilding, or from a stream angler that approaches a bridge or culvert. The phoebe is nearly silent during the cold months, uttering only a clear, sharp "chip" call when its domain is invaded. It has a special liking for water, especially running water, and it spends most of its day near it.

     The eastern phoebe is basically a dark grayish-olive above, with yellowish-white underparts. The top of its head is a darker olive-brown and is large in comparison to the rest of its body. It has no conspicuous wing bars and no eye ring, which sets it apart from its other flycatcher relatives. The phoebe sits upright and has the habit of bobbing or jerking its tail while perched.

     During courtship it will erect its head feathers giving it a crested or shaggy-headed appearance. At this time the male sings his song fairly constantly—described as a clear, "fee bee-pe wit"—repeated many times with the second part either ascending or descending in pitch.

     This bird has adapted well to man's incursions into its territory. It has taken well to nesting on manmade structures. It builds on the windowsills, shutters—any type of ledge—on cabins in the woods or cottages along a lake shore, in barns or in sheds. It especially uses bridges over streams and culvert. Because it builds nests mainly of moss and mud, lined with grass, hair and feathers, it can plaster the nest upside a flat wall much like a barn swallow. Natural nest sites include rock ledges or upturned trees roots, but almost always near water.
Both parents incubate the average of five eggs which are white, speckled with dark brown at the large end. They raise two broods and often use the same nest year after year, refurbishing and adding to it each time. 

     Because of this, mites that thrive in the old nests parasitize them and their young.

     The eastern phoebe is found throughout the eastern United States to the Great Plains, and in Canada from MacKenzie east to Nova Scotia, and south to the Gulf Coast. In Virginia it inhabits forest habitats near water statewide. In the Northern Neck, look for them in such places as Westmoreland State Park, and the George Washington Birthplace National Monument, both in Westmoreland, as well as Bush Mill Stream and Hughlett Point Natural Areas in Northumberland. Other spots to watch for them are the Zoar State Forest in King William and along Dragon Run and any other moving stream or river with structure in the form of bridges or culverts on them. 

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