I have received a couple of calls on my phone saying there is suspicious activity on my Apple account. Does Apple contact by phone or are these phishing calls?

Apple does not make such calls.

All such calls are scams from criminals attempting to steal your personal and financial information. The callers will often use number spoofing to pretend they are calling from a legitimate business. The correct course of action is to ignore the calls or hang up on them, repeatedly if needed. 

Avoid phishing emails, fake 'virus' alerts, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support