Eastern Phoebe
Sayornis phoebe (Latham, 1790)

Taxonomy

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Trogloxene

Realm

Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from 31 counties across nine states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia

Counties

Alabama

Jackson, Madison, Morgan

Arkansas

Stone

Florida

Jackson

Georgia

Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Walker

Illinois

Monroe, Pike, Pope, Randolph

Kentucky

Edmonson, Larue, Ohio, Pulaski

Oklahoma

Caddo, Delaware

Tennessee

Cumberland, Fentress, Franklin, Grundy, Marion, Montgomery, Overton, Pickett, Rhea, Rutherford, Van Buren

Virginia

Lee

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

LC Least Concern

Assessed in 2021.

NatureServe

G5 Secure

National ranks

United States

N5B Secure (breeding), N5N Secure (non-breeding)

Canada

N5B Secure (breeding)

Subnational ranks

Wisconsin

S4B Apparently Secure (breeding)

West Virginia

S3N Vulnerable (non-breeding), S5B Secure (breeding)

Missouri

SNRB (breeding)

Louisiana

S3B Vulnerable (breeding), S5N Secure (non-breeding)

Texas

S4B Apparently Secure (breeding)

Pennsylvania

S4B Apparently Secure (breeding)

ND

SNRB (breeding)

Georgia

S5 Secure

Illinois

S5 Secure

DE

S5B Secure (breeding)

Vermont

S5B Secure (breeding)

Indiana

S4B Apparently Secure (breeding)

NJ

S4B Apparently Secure (breeding), S4N Apparently Secure (non-breeding)

Tennessee

S5 Secure

NE

S4 Apparently Secure

Maryland

S5B Secure (breeding)

ME

S5B Secure (breeding), S5N Secure (non-breeding)

Virginia

S5 Secure

Kansas

S5B Secure (breeding)

South Carolina

S5 Secure

California

SNRB (breeding), SNRN (non-breeding)

NH

S5B Secure (breeding)

New York

S5B Secure (breeding)

Mississippi

S5B Secure (breeding), S5N Secure (non-breeding)

Ohio

S5 Secure

Minnesota

SNRB (breeding)

Arkansas

S4 Apparently Secure

Colorado

S3B Vulnerable (breeding)

District of Columbia

S3B Vulnerable (breeding)

South Dakota

S4B Apparently Secure (breeding)

Oklahoma

SNR Unranked

Alabama

S5 Secure

Michigan

S5 Secure

RI

S5B Secure (breeding)

New Mexico

S3B Vulnerable (breeding), S4N Apparently Secure (non-breeding)

Kentucky

S5B Secure (breeding)

Massachusetts

S5B Secure (breeding)

North Carolina

S5B Secure (breeding), S5N Secure (non-breeding)

Arizona

S1N Critically Imperiled (non-breeding)

Florida

SNRN (non-breeding)

Iowa

S4B Apparently Secure (breeding), S4N Apparently Secure (non-breeding)

Connecticut

S5B Secure (breeding)

Nova Scotia

S4B Apparently Secure (breeding), S4M Apparently Secure (migrant)

New Brunswick

S5B Secure (breeding)

Northwest Territories

S5 Secure

Alberta

S4B Apparently Secure (breeding)

Yukon

S1B Critically Imperiled (breeding)

Saskatchewan

S4B Apparently Secure (breeding)

British Columbia

S4B Apparently Secure (breeding)

Quebec

S5B Secure (breeding)

Ontario

S5B Secure (breeding)

Prince Edward Island

SNA Not Applicable

Manitoba

S5B Secure (breeding)

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

References

• Bailey, V. 1933. Cave Life of Kentucky. US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological Survey, Washington, DC, USA. 256 pp.
• Barr, T.C., Jr. & Kuehne, R.A. 1971. Ecological studies in the Mammoth Cave system of Kentucky. II. The Ecosystem. Annales de Speleologie 26: 47–96. doi:10.5038/1827-806X.3.1.10
• Fenolio, D.B. 2017. 2017 Ozark aquatic subterranean wildlife surveys. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 15 pp.
• Fenolio, D.B., Niemiller, M.L., Slay, M.E. & Carter, E.T. 2018. Biological inventories of caves in the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma: December 2018 field report. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 25 pp.
• Fenolio, D.B., Slay, M.E. & Niemiller, M.L. 2023. Biological inventories of caves in the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma: December 2023 field report. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 24 pp.
• Fenolio, D.B., Slay, M.E., Niemiller, M.L. & Richard, K. 2024. Biological inventories of caves in the Ozarks of northeastern Oklahoma: December 2024 field report. Report to Oklahoma Biological Survey. San Antonio Zoo, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 17 pp.
• Godwin, J.C. 2008. Biological inventory of the cave and karst systems of The Nature Conservancy's Sharp-Bingham Mountain Preserve. Alabama Natural Heritage Program, Auburn, Alabama, USA. 40 pp.
• Harker, D.F., Jr. & Barr, T.C., Jr. 1980. Caves and associated fauna of the Western Kentucky coal field, Volume 2. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfurt, Kentucky, USA. 114 pp.
• Heath, D.R., Saugey, D.A. & Heidt, G.A. 1986. Abandoned mine fauna of the Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas: vertebrate taxa. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 40: 33–36.
• Hobbs, III., H.H. 1994. Assessment of the ecological resources of the caves of Russell Cave National Monument, Jackson County, Alabama and of selected caves at the Lookout Mountain Unit of Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park, Dade County, Georgia and Hamilton County, Tennessee. 200 pp.
• Hopla, C.E. & Love, J.E. 1984. The Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) as a Host for Ornithodoros concanensis (Acari: Argasidae) in Oklahoma, USA. Journal of Medical Entomology 21: 118–119.
• Lewis, J.J. 2004. Interstate 66 karst faunal study. Environmental Impact Statement. 17 pp.
• Lewis, J.J. 2005. A biological inventory of caves of the Cumberland Plateau. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 156 pp.
• Lewis, J.J. & Lewis, S.L. 2007. A biological reconnaissance of selected caves in the Highland Rim area of central Tennessee. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 42 pp.
• Mays, J. 2018. Inventory of Florida's cave fauna with a focus on terrestrial invertebrate species. Progress Report for Florida Park Service. Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. 9 pp.
• McDaniel, V.R. & Gardner, J.E. 1977. Cave fauna of Arkansas: vertebrate taxa. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 31: 68–71. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol31/iss1/22.
• McGregor, S.W., Rheams, K.F., O'Neil, P.E., Moser, P.H. & Blackwood, R. 1994. Biological, geological, and hydrological investigations in Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and other selected caves in north Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. 226 pp.
• McGregor, S.W., O'Neil, P.E., Rheams, K.F., Moser, P.H. & Blackwood, R. 1997. Biological, geological, and hydrological investigations in Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and other selected caves in north Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama Bulletin 166: 1–198.
• Niemiller, M.L., Maxwell, E. & Higgs, J.P. 2024. A biological inventory of Sinking Spring Cave at Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, Larue County, Kentucky, USA. U.S. National Park Service, Hodgenville, Kentucky, USA. 21 pp.
• Niemiller, M.L., Anderson, C.L., Maxwell, E.C., Midgette, H., Quering, C., Richards, M., Wilson, K. & Wirwa, N. 2025. A noteworthy range extension of the federally endangered Alabama Cave Shrimp (Palaemonias alabamae) south of the Tennessee River in northern Alabama. Southeastern Naturalist 24: N47-N58. doi:10.1656/058.024.0403
• Trumbore, L.E., Reynolds, R.J., Thomas, S.C., Orndorff, W., Cramphorn, B., Gladstone, N.S., Harden, C.W., Lewis, J.J., Milne, M.A., Ober, K.A., Shear, W.A., Stephen, C.D.R. & Zigler, K.S. 2024. Cave biodiversity of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 86: 13–24. doi:10.4311/2022LSC0116
• Webb, D.W., Taylor, S.J. & Krejca, J.K. 1993. The biological resources of Illinois caves and other subterranean environments. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois, USA. 143 pp.
• Zigler, K.S., Niemiller, M.L., Stephen, C.D.R., Ayala, B.N., Milne, M.A., Gladstone, N.S., Engel, A.S., Jensen, J.B., Camp, C.D., Ozier, J.C. & Cressler, A. 2020. Biodiversity from caves and other subterranean habitats of Georgia, USA. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 82: 125–167. doi:10.4311/2019LSC0125

How to cite this account

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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