Eastern phoebe here for winter? (1 Viewer)

[Hmarie]

Hello,
For the past week or so, every morning, I hear one eastern phoebe make 1or 2 calls then I don't hear it again.
I have not seen it, but it has a distinct call so I know that's what it is.
Is this uncommon? I thought they migrated to mexico in the winter, I am worried about it!

 

[Hmarie]

I should mention I am in Minnesota...

 

[etudiant]

Hopefully the call is from another bird mimicking the Phoebe, because Minnesota winters are hard on flying insects.
I'd be astounded if a Phoebe could survive the season there.

 

[raymie]

I live in Wisconsin and this past winter a phoebe overwintered not far from where I live and survived all the way to spring. A catbird also did the same.

 

[etudiant]

Astounding, these are tough creatures.
My only comparable is a vagrant Rufous Hummingbird that overwintered here in NYC, by the American Museum of Natural History.
It subsisted on some flowering plants from the Pacific NW and the feeder the museum staff put up before moving on in March.

 

[Hamhed]

Late to the dance, as usual...
We don't have comparable weather here in western North Carolina that Minnesota or Wisconsin can produce but we know that wintering Phoebes eat a variety of small fruits, including sumac and poison ivy. So, their diet is adaptable during adverse conditions.

Steve

 

[Jim D.]

An Eastern phoebe overwintered in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn last year, and appears to be there, doing the same, this year (currently mid-December 2022.) It spends most of its time picking food (insects and spiders, perhaps eggs) from a low stone wall surrounding a pond.

 

[KC Foggin]

An Eastern phoebe overwintered in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn last year, and appears to be there, doing the same, this year (currently mid-December 2022.) It spends most of its time picking food (insects and spiders, perhaps eggs) from a low stone wall surrounding a pond.

Hi Jim! I'm just going to jump in here and wish you a warm welcome from those of us at BirdForum!