Among the early spring arrivals to their northern homes none is more
welcome than the phœbe (fig. 18). The common phœbe[48] breeds
throughout the United States east of the Great Plains, and winters from
the South Atlantic and Gulf States southward. Its western relative, the
black phœbe,[49] is found from Texas west to the Pacific coast, which
it occupies as far north as Washington, replacing through most of this
region the common or eastern form.
[48] _Sayornis phœbe_.
[49] _Sayornis Nigricans_.
Though naturally building its nest under an overhanging cliff of rock
or earth, or in the mouth of a cave, the preference of the eastern
species for the vicinity of farm buildings is so marked that in the more
thickly settled parts of the country the bird is seldom seen at any
great distance from a farmhouse, except where a bridge spanning a stream
affords a secure spot for a nest. Its confiding disposition renders it a
great favorite, and consequently it is seldom disturbed.
The phœbe subsists almost exclusively upon insects, most of which are
caught upon the wing. An examination of 370 stomachs showed that over 89
per cent of the year's food consists of insects and spiders, while wild
fruit constitutes the remainder. The insects belong chiefly to noxious
species, and include many click beetles. May beetles, and weevils.
Other beetles, belonging to 21 families that were identified, make up
10.65 per cent. They appear to be eaten very regularly in every month,
but the most are taken in spring and early summer. May is the month of
maximum consumption, with 20.43 per cent. Beetles altogether amount to
15.3 per cent, which places them second in rank of the items of animal
food. The notorious cotton-boll weevil was found in six stomachs taken
in the cotton fields of Texas and Louisiana, and five individuals of the
strawberry weevil were taken from one collected in Texas. Many other
beetles contained In the stomachs are equally harmful, but are not so
widely known. Such are the corn leaf-beetle, which feeds upon corn; the
12-spotted cucumber beetle, and the striped cucumber beetle, both of
which seriously injure and sometimes destroy cucumber and squash vines;
and the locust leaf miner, which is sometimes so numerous that all the
locust trees over large areas are blasted as by fire.
In the phœbe's diet hymenopterous insects stand at the head, as
is the case with most of the flycatchers. They are eaten with great
regularity and are the largest item in nearly every month. A few are
useful parasitic species, but these are offset by a number of sawfly
larvæ, which are very harmful insects. Ants were found in 24 stomachs.
No honeybees were identified. In their season grasshoppers are much
relished, while wasps of various forms, many flies of species that annoy
cattle, and a few bugs and spiders are also eaten regularly. It is
evident that a pair of phœbes must materially reduce the number of
insects near a garden or field, as the birds often, if not always, raise
two broods a year, and each brood numbers from four to six young.
There is hardly a more useful species about the farm than the phœbe,
and it should receive every encouragement. To furnish nesting boxes is
helpful, but not necessary, as it usually prefers a more open situation,
like a shed or a nook under the eaves, but it should be protected from
cats and other marauders.
[Illustration: Fig. 18.--Phœbe. Length, about 6½ inches.]
The black phœbe has the same habits as its eastern relative, both as
to selection of food and nesting sites, preferring for the latter purpose
some structure of man, as a shed or, better still, a bridge over a stream
of water, and the preference of the black phœbe for the vicinity of
water is very pronounced. One may always be found at a stream' or pool
and often at a watering trough by the roadside.
Careful study of the habits of the bird shows that it obtains a large
portion of Its food about wet places. While camping beside a stream in
California the writer took some pains to observe the habits of the black
phœbe. The nesting season was over, and the birds had nothing to do
but eat. This they appeared to be doing all the time. When first observed
in the morning, at the first glimmer of daylight, a phœbe was always
found flitting from rock to rock, although it was so dusky that the bird
could hardly be seen. This activity was kept up all day. Even in the
evening, when it was so dark that notes were written by the aid of the
camp fire, the phœbe was still engaged in its work of collecting,
though it was difficult to understand how it could catch insects when
there was scarcely light enough to see the bird. Exploration of the
stream showed that every portion of it was patrolled by a phœbe, that
each one apparently did not range over more than 12 or 13 rods of water,
and that sometimes two or three were in close proximity.
The number of insects destroyed in a year by the black phœbe is
enormous. Fortunately, the examination of stomachs has supplemented
observation in the field, and we are enabled to give precise details. Of
the 333 stomachs examined, every one contained insects as the great bulk
of the food. Only 15 contained any vegetable food at all, and in no case
was it a considerable part of the contents of the stomach. The insects
eaten were mostly wasps, bugs, and flies, but many beetles also were
destroyed.
Useful beetles belonging to three families amount to 2.8 per cent of the
food. Other beetles of harmful or neutral species reach 10.5 per cent.
Wasps, the largest item of the food, were found in 252 stomachs and
were the whole contents of 15. The average for the year is 35 per cent.
Parasitic species were noted, but they were very few. Ants were found in
48 stomachs, and for a short time in midsummer they constitute a notable
part of the food. Various wild bees and wasps make up the bulk of this
item. No honeybees were found.
Bugs in various forms constitute 10.56 per cent and are eaten in every
month but May. Stinkbugs appear to be the favorites, as they were
contained in 10 stomachs. Plant lice were found in one stomach. Flies,
forming the second largest item, were found in 97 stomachs and completely
filled 3. They constitute the most regular article in the black
phœbe's diet. The maximum consumption occurs in April, 64.3 per cent.
The black phœbe well merits its title of flycatcher.
Moths and caterpillars amount to 8.2 per cent of the food. They were
found in 72 stomachs, of which 51 contained the adult moths and 28 the
larvæ or caterpillars. One stomach was entirely filled with adults. This
is one of the few birds studied by the writer that eats more moths than
caterpillars, for as a rule the caterpillars are largely in excess.
Flycatchers, taking their food upon the wing, would naturally prove
exceptions to the rule. Crickets are evidently not a favorite food of the
black phœbe, as they amount to only 2.45 per cent. They were found in
39 stomachs, but usually the amount in each was small, though one stomach
was entirely filled with them. Grasshoppers did not appear. Dragon flies
were eaten to some extent, and these illustrate the fondness of the
species for the neighborhood of water.
The vegetable matter eaten consisted chiefly of small wild fruits of no
economic importance.
Another phœbe inhabiting the Western States and breeding as far north
as Alaska is the Say phœbe.[50] Investigation of its food was based
on the examination of 86 stomachs, and while none were available for the
months when insects are most numerous, the bird proved to be one of the
most exclusively insectivorous of the family. That it takes a few useful
insects can not be denied, but these are far outnumbered by the harmful
ones it destroys, and the balance is clearly in favor of the bird. Its
vegetable food amounts to only 2 per cent and is made up of a little wild
fruit, seeds, and rubbish.
[50] _Sayornis sayus_.