Check these little peanuts out - I'm no birder, but I'm quite certain they're Eastern Phoebe nestlings, huddled tightly into a rather impressive moss-covered nest. My parents informed me that this nest (tucked into a rafter in their barn) has seen many consecutive years of chicks (Phoebes are notorious for rebuilding on top of last year's nest), each year accumulating another layer of cozy materials, and growing an inch closer to the barn ceiling. My mom has been keeping an eye on these guys all spring, and coincidentally, the day after I took this picture, all 5 nestlings fledged (hopefully not in response to my careful investigation and intrusive use of camera flash for a good 3 or 4 minutes straight...).
Eastern Phoebes are members of the tyrant flycatcher family, which consists of some 400 generally (but not exclusively) small, plain-colored songbirds who feed on flying insects. Found all throughout the northeast US, the Phoebe is so named because of it's distinctive "fee-bee" call, and it is quite fond of building it's shaggy green nests in protected corners of man made structures. Of interesting note, a brood of Eastern Phoebes in Pennsylvania were the very first birds to ever be "banded" by an American. In 1803, curious to see if the birds would come back to their favorite nesting area after winter migration, a young naturalist and painter by the name of John James Audubon gently tied fine silver cord around each nestling's leg as a marker - sure enough, he was able to identify a few of those same individuals when they returned to nest the following season. Audubon obviously went on to become the most famous painter of birds in the universe, and the concept of banding evolved handily into a highly useful practice using durable plastics and metal alloys in place of silver cord; Phoebes are, reassuringly, still Phoebes. Below, an adult Eastern Phoebe, with dinner (bees and wasps are apparently favored prey)...
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