Eastern Phoebe...pair!? - Arapahoe

[Jared Del Rosso]

I've been watching a male Eastern Phoebe since 3/28 along the High Line Canal Trail and Little Dry Creek Trail in Centennial and Greenwood Village (Arapahoe). He's been singing loudly and conspicuously from atop cottonwoods since then. This is the same stretch of trail that drew Western Flycatchers to nest back in 2018 (but perhaps earlier...this is merely the first year I noted them, and I didn't bird this portion of trail much until then). 

This morning, I found him again, singing...but not quite as vigorously. Twice, he disappeared on me, seeming to chase or follow another bird. The other one struck me as very much an Eastern Phoebe. I didn't get a good look, though, and I couldn't rule out he wasn't chasing away some other species (and probably a Song Sparrow, I guessed, since he was flying low toward the creek and canal). But I hoped the change in behavior -- both the lightening up on the song and the chasing of a bird -- meant something.

And, happily, it did. I eventually saw a second Eastern Phoebe with him. They're drawn to a fenced in concrete and metal structure to control water, managed by Denver Water. This strikes me as just the sort of structure that an Eastern Phoebe might nest on. Here's hoping.

Perhaps relatedly, there seem to be great puffs and clouds of midges this year...greater than usual, maybe, but I'm not a good judge of that.

If you see these phoebes, photos or reports of nesting activities (collecting materials, for instance) are much appreciated. According to Birds of the World, nest building happens almost immediately after pairing.

- Jared Del Rosso

Centennial, CO 

lonesomewhippoorwill.com