Any of three species (family Tyrannidae, suborder Tyranni) of suboscine passerines with a habit of twitching their tail when perching.
The eastern phoebe ( Sayornis phoebe ) of North America is 7.5 in. (18 cm) long, plain brownish gray above, and paler below. Its call is a brisk "fee-bee" uttered over and over. It makes a mossy nest, strengthened with mud, on a ledge, often under a bridge. Say's phoebe ( S. saya ), a slightly larger bird with buff-hued underparts, occurs in open country in western North America. The black phoebe ( S. nigricans ), occurring from the southwestern U.S. to Argentina, is dark above with a white belly.