Black Phoebe Gallery

Sayornis nigricans

eBird gives this description for the Black Phoebe:  Small, sooty black flycatcher with clean white belly. Sits in the open on low perches to scan for insects, while pumping its tail up and down. Often near a water source whether it’s a river, suburban creek, or salt-sprayed rocks and cliffs.  All About Birds provides this additional descriptive information for the Black Phoebe:  The Black Phoebe is a dapper flycatcher of the western U.S. with a sooty black body and crisp white belly. They sit in the open on low perches to scan for insects, often keeping up a running series of shrill chirps. Black Phoebes use mud to build cup-shaped nests against walls, overhangs, culverts, and bridges. Look for them near any water source from small streams, to suburbs, all the way to the salt-sprayed rocks and cliffs of the Pacific Ocean.

I saw my first Black Phoebe during a brief stop at Gage Gardens in Marathon, Texas, on the afternoon of Sunday, August 30, 2020.  What a delight to watch this distinctive little bird!

I first spotted this Black Phoebe perched in a tree at Gage Gardens, August 30, 2020.
Black Phoebe catching flys in the grass at Gage Gardens, August 30, 2020.


“Cool Facts” about the Black Phoebe from All About Birds…

  • Although it mostly eats insects, the Black Phoebe sometimes snatches minnows from the surface of ponds. It may even feed fish to nestlings.
  • The male Black Phoebe gives the female a tour of potential nest sites, hovering in front of each likely spot for 5 to 10 seconds. But it’s the female who makes the final decision and does all the nest construction.
  • Black Phoebes don’t usually venture outside their breeding and wintering areas, but on rare occasions they are seen as far east as Florida. One misplaced bird showed up in Minnesota in the fall.
  • One pair of Black Phoebes got some unwanted house guests when a pair of House Finches moved into their nest. The finches added 5 eggs to the 6 phoebe eggs already there, and the two females alternated incubation duties for an entire week before both species abandoned the nest.
  • The oldest Black Phoebe on record was at least 8 years old when it was recaptured and released during banding operations in California.