Eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

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Eastern phoebe

Sayornis phoebe

Bird

The eastern phoebe is an early-arriving insectivorous flycatcher that hunts by "sallying" — watching from a low, exposed perch and flying out to seize flying insects, then returning to perch. It favors woodland edges and streamsides, where trees and shrubs supply the low perches and structural cover it uses. In fall and winter, when flying insects are scarce, it supplements its diet with small fruits and berries. It does not eat plant foliage; the plants it depends on provide perch structure and cover.

Plants in the catalog

Fruit plants · 1

American elderberry

Sambucus canadensis

Plausible

Phoebes supplement with small fruits/berries in fall and winter (Cornell, Audubon, ADW); elderberry is among the native fruits taken. No elderberry-specific record, so plausible.

Shelter plants · 4

Arrowwood viburnum

Viburnum dentatum

Plausible

Habitat structure, not food. A woodland-edge shrub providing the low perches and cover consistent with phoebe foraging habitat (Audubon, ADW); genus/habitat-level inference.

Black willow

Salix nigra

Plausible

Habitat structure, not food. Streambank willows supply the low exposed perches this sallying flycatcher hunts from (Audubon, ADW); genus/habitat-level inference.

Eastern cottonwood

Populus deltoides

Plausible

Habitat structure, not food. Riparian cottonwoods provide the low perches this flycatcher sallies from near water (Audubon, ADW); genus/habitat-level inference.

Red-osier dogwood

Cornus sericea

Plausible

Habitat structure, not food. A wet-edge shrub typical of phoebe streamside habitat (Audubon, ADW), offering low perches and cover.

Range

Breeds across eastern and central North America from the Canadian Maritimes and prairie provinces south through the eastern United States, wintering in the southeastern U.S. and Mexico.

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