Backyard Birds -
Not At First Glance
The smell of fresh cut grass was on my mind because the dreaded mowing day had arrived. While heading towards the shed to fire up the mowing beast for laps around the yard, I saw a bird that landed in the grass about 25 feet just ahead of me. I didn’t think much of it at first. As I took a second glance it occurred to me that this little guy was not familiar. The investigation had begun once I was aware there was a bird in my backyard that I didn’t recognize. I looked in some of my books for a picture similar to what I saw. Not coming to a speedy conclusion, I put my investigative work on hold for another day. About a week went by and while out mowing (again), I noticed another bird similar to the first one, but this one had slightly different colors that were more muted. I believed that I may have just seen the female version of the same species. Most female bird species are when adorned in camouflaging colors for purposes of blending into their surroundings. I knew I may now have the information to be able to solve my mystery. I had now witnessed a male and female to look up in my books. I went back and started digging through more pictures. I was soon online
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Page 22
By Guest Writer, Shawn Keith
searching for a close up photo of a male and female Eastern Phoebe. The Eastern Phoebe seems to be a simple bird at first, but upon further investigation they are quite interesting with a big surprise. One thing interesting is they are quite the accomplished recycler. In a world where so many are recycling, the Eastern Phoebe has been doing its share long before most of us thought about recycling. The phoebe doesn’t build a new nest every year. They will find an old robin’s nest and remodel it to their own style. Their choice of nest could also come from an old barn swallow nest. Miss Phoebe will start decorating it with a little moss, a little dried grass with mud and animal hair. If they do end up building a new nest from scratch they will freshen it up each subsequent year. Another interesting fact is the Eastern Phoebe will sit on a low perch twitching its tail in an up down motion as if to control its balance. It does this while watching for insects and singing their song with a raspy “Fee-bee” sounding call, all the while they are alone. Spending their time this way, the phoebe is a solitary bird. The male and female mated pair don’t even hang around each other. In fact they will not be seen in groups either; however, here is the surprise. While doing my research for this the little fellow I found out they want to hang out with people. So, yes instead of being with their mate or other phoebes, they prefer to hang out with us. In fact they are attracted to people to the point of landing on their head. I also found a video titled “Eastern Phoebe is way too friendly”. Each time this man takes a walk, Mr. Phoebe joins him by sitting on his cell phone that he is trying to film with. The gentleman held his finger up to the phone and the feller climbed aboard and sat there quite nicely and looked so handsome. Shortly after that Mr. Phoebe soon flew up and landed on the man’s head. When you read the comments and posts that people had left from watching this video you will see that many others have had the same experience with the Eastern Phoebe in their yards. They each thought they were the only ones with that experience until watching this man. What a world we live in. Birds in our yards that want to sit on our heads, fingers and phone. Who would have thought? All I need to do now is to walk around my yard with my phone and see what happens.
July 2022
Small Town Living
