Walking along a trail in a northern Illinois woodlands, I noticed the silhouette of our earliest arriving migratory flycatcher. It’s not a colorful bird — Its body and wings are grayish-brown, its ...

Editor’s note: The following column was originally printed in the New Hampshire Union Leader on Saturday, Aug. 12, 1995. Phoebes, friendly members of the flycatcher family that frequently nest near ...

As the frost line retreats northward in early spring, its withdrawal is often closely followed — and occasionally preceded — by the arrival of our most common flycatcher: the eastern phoebe. In fact, ...