Gary Helm
"Daughter of Uranus And Gaia"
In Greek mythology, Phoebe is one of the original Titans, the daughter of Uranus and Gaia. The word itself means bright and radiant. So what does this have to do with how the eastern phoebe and its kin got their name? Absolutely nothing.
Instead, the name comes from the call these birds make: FEE-BEE. Unromantic, but descriptively accurate. Sort of like the killdeer, which in no way is capable of killing anything the size of a deer but makes the sound KILL-DEER.
Scientifically, the eastern phoebe is known as Sayornis phoebe, and is a member of Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatcher family. It's the largest and most diverse bird families in the world, with members found in almost all of the Western Hemisphere.
Eastern phoebes are mostly migratory birds, breeding during the summer in Canada's far north and most of the eastern United States, traveling south into Florida, Mexico and parts of the Caribbean to spend the winter. They are found year-round in the Southeast north of Florida; in recent decades there have been a few eastern phoebes found nesting in Florida as far south as Everglades National Park.
Most, however, arrive here in September and October, and return north in March and April.
I found this one along Joe Overstreet Road in Osceola County, Florida.
"Daughter of Uranus And Gaia"
In Greek mythology, Phoebe is one of the original Titans, the daughter of Uranus and Gaia. The word itself means bright and radiant. So what does this have to do with how the eastern phoebe and its kin got their name? Absolutely nothing.
Instead, the name comes from the call these birds make: FEE-BEE. Unromantic, but descriptively accurate. Sort of like the killdeer, which in no way is capable of killing anything the size of a deer but makes the sound KILL-DEER.
Scientifically, the eastern phoebe is known as Sayornis phoebe, and is a member of Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatcher family. It's the largest and most diverse bird families in the world, with members found in almost all of the Western Hemisphere.
Eastern phoebes are mostly migratory birds, breeding during the summer in Canada's far north and most of the eastern United States, traveling south into Florida, Mexico and parts of the Caribbean to spend the winter. They are found year-round in the Southeast north of Florida; in recent decades there have been a few eastern phoebes found nesting in Florida as far south as Everglades National Park.
Most, however, arrive here in September and October, and return north in March and April.
I found this one along Joe Overstreet Road in Osceola County, Florida.