Birds

Eastern Phoebes in Fall

October 3, 2009 by Corey 9 Comments

While wood-warblers are a wonderful type of bird to watch they are not the only species making their way south each fall.  Everything sparrows to shorebirds are moving through and it would be a poor birder indeed who failed to notice the flycatchers.  Though silent Empidonax flycatchers will certainly drive at least some birders nuts each autumn, Eastern Phoebes, with their pumping tails and occasional calls, ensure that anyone who is paying attention can put a name to the Sayornis phoebe that are pausing on their journey to the southern United States and Central America.  Their tendency to sally forth repeatedly for bugs from the same perch also enables those armed with digiscoping gear to get set up and shoot what I hope you will agree are some quality images.

This post has been submitted to Bird Photography Weekly #58.  Go check it out!

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.