Always On Duty!

May 10, 2025

I’ve got an Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) that seems to be always hanging around the yard, flying from its perch to catch an insect mid-flight and then coming back to that same perch. They’re solitary birds, not sociable.

If there was any uncertainty of what this species of bird this is, I could always watch for the often flicking of its tail. And that tail, though not forked, certainly is notched.

Glad it’s here on duty hunting those insects. During winter it will eat small fruits and berries, including Poison Ivy berries.

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Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.