{"id":508,"date":"2023-07-18T07:57:12","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T23:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/?p=508"},"modified":"2024-01-31T06:27:39","modified_gmt":"2024-01-30T22:27:39","slug":"creature-feature-black-phoebe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/?p=508","title":{"rendered":"Creature Feature: Black Phoebe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\"><em>The following about our favorite flycatcher originally appeared in the UC Davis Ethogram&#8217;s Creature Feature segment on April 27, 2023. Hope you enjoy! -Jacob<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">On a warm spring day, I\u2019m hiking across the rolling hills of Northern California when I come across a quiet pond. As I tramp closer to the reedy bank, a small dragonfly zips past and pauses, hovering in the air a few feet from me.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">Then, out of nowhere . . .&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">Cheep! In a blur of black feathers, a black phoebe lunges from the nearby cattails, swooping low over water and grass. The black-and-white bird twists acrobatically through the air, using her tail feathers to rudder hard to the left in pursuit of her target. When she alights back on her perch a second later, an insect is clamped firmly in her beak. She tilts her head to the side and flicks her tail. It looks like she is eyeing me.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"zak-oembed-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A Black Phoebe Catches a Damselfly\" width=\"812\" height=\"457\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7NSEM_OsSuE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A YouTube video of a similar Black Phoebe hunting trip.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">\u201cWow!\u201d I say. \u201cYou\u2019re here, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">\u201cCheep!\u201d she calls again, and flies off. It won\u2019t be long before I encounter another phoebe. I hear them sing in the mornings near my place in Davis and atop lecture halls on campus. No matter where I go, I can always be sure I\u2019ll find that little black bird.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theethogram.files.wordpress.com\/2023\/04\/1599px-sayornis_nigricans_at_las_gallinas_wildlife_ponds.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theethogram.files.wordpress.com\/2023\/04\/1599px-sayornis_nigricans_at_las_gallinas_wildlife_ponds.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12126\" style=\"width:730px;height:486px\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Above:  a black phoebe regards the camera while perched atop a wooden beam, likely in search of food. Credit: Frank Schulenburg <\/em>[<a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Sayornis_nigricans_at_Las_Gallinas_Wildlife_Ponds.jpg\">Link]<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">The black phoebe (scientific name: <em>Sayornis nigricans<\/em>) is a small insect-catching bird that lives near rivers, streams, and increasingly, human habitats. All over the Western US and Mexico, Black phoebes make their homes wherever water and flying insects are handy. They build cup-shaped nests out of mud that look out on rocky overhangs, bridges, and all kinds of elevated surfaces. Male and female phoebes work as a pair to raise a clutch of 1\u20136 eggs, and can raise as many as 3 broods in a single year (Wolf 1997).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">This charismatic bird is abundant in backyards, natural areas, and cities alike, perching on low branches and fences and making its telltale call. In fact, you can hear black phoebes calling anywhere from the rocky cliffs surrounding San Francisco to the heart of agricultural farmland in the Central Valley. This species seems much more flexible than many of its close cousins when it comes to living near humans.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">It begs the question: why? Why is this particular flycatcher (a group of birds named for their insect-focused diet) so common in cities, where people use pesticides and other controls to get rid of insects? How does it navigate the suburbs, where homes are often built far from water? So far, there is mostly only anecdotal evidence. Instead of riverbeds, its mud cup nests appear on park gazebos and other wooden structures&#8211; even houses. Black phoebes will scoop up mud created by our sprinkler systems. Some people report that these birds snag insects buzzing above garbage bins, or rising up from carefully-mowed lawns.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theethogram.files.wordpress.com\/2023\/04\/black_phoebe_27563258319.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/theethogram.files.wordpress.com\/2023\/04\/black_phoebe_27563258319.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12128\" style=\"width:730px;height:547px\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Above: this phoebe has snatched a fast-moving dragonfly from midair. Its foraging trips show off their incredible aerial agility<\/em>. Credit: Mike&#8217;s Birds <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Black_Phoebe_(27563258319).jpg\">[Link]<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">Animals that live near humans encounter both danger and opportunity. Black phoebes might be like many other city-dwelling species, which tend to be assertive, adventurous, and willing to try out new sources of food and shelter (Caspi et al. 2022). Could it be their behavior that allows phoebes to succeed where other flycatchers struggle? Is there more to this species\u2019 ability to cope with humans than meets the eye? For now, nobody knows for sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\">It can be easy to take backyard birds for granted. The adventurous black phoebe may be common, but it\u2019s precisely how common this flycatcher is\u2013and how it seems not only to survive but thrive in many different environments\u2013that makes it so unique. In a bird that swoops through cities, rivers, woodlands and farmlands alike, there is a mystery just waiting to be uncovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Black_Phoebe_24228820137-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-509\" srcset=\"https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Black_Phoebe_24228820137-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Black_Phoebe_24228820137-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Black_Phoebe_24228820137-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Black_Phoebe_24228820137-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Black_Phoebe_24228820137-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Above: a Black Phoebe looks toward the horizon in San Francisco. What changes will urbanization continue to bring for this species? Photo Credit: Becky Matsubara<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The following about our favorite flycatcher originally appeared in the UC Davis Ethogram&#8217;s Creature Feature segment on April 27, 2023. Hope you enjoy! -Jacob On a warm spring day, I\u2019m hiking across the rolling hills of Northern California when I come across a quiet pond. As I tramp closer to the reedy bank, a small [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"zakra_page_container_layout":"customizer","zakra_page_sidebar_layout":"customizer","zakra_remove_content_margin":false,"zakra_sidebar":"customizer","zakra_transparent_header":"customizer","zakra_logo":0,"zakra_main_header_style":"default","zakra_menu_item_color":"","zakra_menu_item_hover_color":"","zakra_menu_item_active_color":"","zakra_menu_active_style":"","zakra_page_header":true,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-urban-field-guide"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=508"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":610,"href":"https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508\/revisions\/610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectphoebe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}