Eastern Phoebe (on my porch March 13, 2009)

It happens every year! The Eastern Phoebe, a common flycatcher bird, returns to our yard in late February.


Carolina Wren (on my porch circa June, 2007)

A few weeks later, he harasses the Carolina Wrens from the front porch where they have been sleeping peacefully at night in a clay birdhouse. When the wrens leave the birdhouse in the morning, the phoebe will not let them return.   That's when I start hearing his constant "fee-bee" call over and over ad nauseum.


Here the Eastern Phoebe is, looking at me taking the photo, saying "You can't stop me." It's really no contest because the 7" long phoebe with a 11" wingspan is much larger than the small 5-1/2" wren.

So, the Carolina Wren's first nest is usually elsewhere. This year, I had propped up a bluebird house with stand in the shed but didn't get around to putting it up  on our back pasture. The wrens made a nest behind it so I will leave it until they leave the nest. It's too late to put up the bluebird house anyway.

The Eastern Phoebe has staked out the area in front of the porch where he perches on a branch, flipping his tail up and down and then diving for insects which he catches on the fly (hence the term flycatcher maybe?). Funny thing he has never made a nest on the front porch, usually it's under the second story eave on the south side of the house (the north side being taken by the bathouse).

By June, the wrens usually return to our porch to raise their young, the phoebe having calmed down by then.  I had videotaped the wren babies leaving the nest once (see post in case you would like to see the video) . 

Housing Lessons from the Birds

The birds are busy establishing their territories to make nests, filling the woods and our yard with their beautiful songs.   Soon, some of the neotropical birds, such as the wood thrush and scarlet tanager  will join the cardinals, chicadees,  woodpeckers  and a host of other year-round birds, to build their simple nests.

This same pattern happens every year as long as we don't log our woods of course.    I  have never  seen  a bird build a super fancy nest or a McNest, rather they construct  simple shelters to rear their young.   Americans should take a cue from the birds and think of housing, not as a source of revenue or profit but as simple shelters that are in harmony with the environment.     Perhaps we would not have had the housing bubble which has led to our current economic crisis.