I saw the same thing last winter when a Phoebe used the phoebe nest just
outside one of my sliding doors.  It stayed for several days, but keep in
mind, that it might not be the same phoebe.  It could be a seriously late
migrating Phoebe.

     On another note, the phoebes at my house usually sublet their nest to
a pair of Carolina wrens who spend most of the winter in it.  On the
coldest nights, they can be found snuggled up together deep in the nest.  I
can barely tell they are wrens, and am not about to bother them to be sure.
 They appear to be good renters, as the nest has been reused for over 20
years, with, no doubt, some renovations each year.

joe in the woods
Somerset Ohio
Perry county

On Thu, Dec 27, 2012 at 7:45 PM, Casey Tucker <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Hi All, While visiting my parents on Christmas evening I made a rather odd
> observation.  An Eastern Phoebe had made a nest this summer affixed to the
> side of a porch light situated above a frequently used service entrance on
> the front of their house.  This entrance is in a sheltered alcove.  Several
> young birds were successfully fledged from this nest prior to fall. While I
> was visiting my parents the other night for the holiday a Phoebe flew out
> of the nest as I walked up to the entrance.  Later as I went to leave the
> bird had situated itself back into the nest and just a bit of plumage was
> visible from below the nest.  It was in the low- to mid-30's Fahreheit and
> fairly windy. While I am familiar with the occurence of Phoebes throughout
> the winter months, and I know Phoebes will re-use nests in the breeding
> season and breed relatively early in spring, I have, to the best of my
> memory, never come across a report of a Phoebe re-using its nest as shelter
> during winter months. I've not done an extensive literature search to see
> if this has been documented previously, but wanted to bring it to
>  everyone's attention in case others might come across something similar.
> Thanks, Casey Tucker
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