Eastern phoebes have a knack for getting insects that other flycatchers cannot. A birder once observed a phoebe hovering above the ground around the end of December.

Maine Audubon's Laura Minich Zitske tells us the eastern phoebe is most easily keyed out by its long, wagging tail - which twitches as it's perched upright on a tree branch.

Eastern phoebes are in the flycatcher family and consume not just flies, but also wasps, grasshoppers and even ticks — great news to those of us who can’t walk in the woods without getting bitten.

An Eastern phoebe nest similar to this under a bridge in northeast Atlanta was saved when construction workers waited for the babies to fledge before doing extensive repairs on the bridge.

Come autumn, eastern phoebes breeding in the northeastern U.S. head to south to states from Florida to Texas — and even into Mexico.

These are actually modified feathers called facial bristles that help them sense their prey. When they catch their prey, they quickly snap their head back resulting in a snapping sound.

Short-distance migrants: These can include the eastern phoebe, the yellow-bellied sapsucker and the song sparrow. Medium-distance migrants: These are birds that migrate a few hundred miles.

Eastern phoebes will be present in small numbers through our increasingly mild winters, although the vast majority still migrate south to the Gulf Coast of the U.S. or Mexico.

Eastern phoebes are short-distance migrants, with most individuals wintering between the Gulf Coast and mid-Atlantic states, so they are able to quickly return to their breeding grounds. Soon after ...

Bird-watchers, excited to see and hear cardinals, know red-winged blackbirds and Eastern phoebes are not far behind. Hikers eagerly anticipate the sound of peepers, those small chorus frogs who ...

Short-distance migrants: These can include the Eastern phoebe, the yellow-bellied sapsucker and the song sparrow. Medium-distance migrants: These are birds that migrate a few hundred miles.