Yesterday, while driving along a country road east of Columbia, Missouri, I encountered an eastern phoebe, perched on a fence. It was the first I have seen this year and may be the earliest sighting of this species in my long birding career.
Known for its early spring and late fall migrations, despite the fact that it feeds primarily on insects, this distinctive flycatcher is a common summer resident across Canada, the Great Plains, the Midwest and the Northeastern quadrant of the U.S.; over the past decade, they have also been observed in Metro Denver. Eastern phoebes winter in the Southeastern U.S. and Mexico.
The instinctual behavior of this phoebe and other early spring insectivores (such as tree swallows) raises interesting questions about the evolution of avian migration. Most dedicated insectivores winter in the Tropics or Subtropics and do not arrive in Temperate Zones until mid-late spring, when the risk of a freeze has passed. While eastern phoebes are known to feed on berries when necessary, their early return to central latitudes seems to tempt fate. On the other hand, as our climate warms, they might just become permanent residents in Missouri.
