Eastern Wood Pewee
These small flycatchers perch on dead branches in the mid-canopy and sally out after flying insects.
Eastern wood pewee. Nondescript plumage with whitish wingbars. Note the loud song that rings through eastern woodlands. Base of the bill is usually orange but hard to see.
Drab grayish-brown flycatcher found in forested areas and edges. Have short legs and a crown which gives their head a triangular appearance. Photo by Bill Lemmon.
The Eastern Wood-pewee is a small forest bird about the same size as a House Sparrow. A characteristic sound of Eastern summers. The Wood-Pewee sings most often at dawn and dusk and it may continue singing quite late in the evening after.
Sordidulus were formerly considered to be a single speciesThe two species are virtually identical in appearance and can be distinguished most easily by their calls. The eastern wood pewee Contopus virens is a small tyrant flycatcher from North AmericaThis bird and the western wood pewee C. It is usually seen on a high perch watching for prey and sallying out to snatch insects.
This species is often observed perched in an upright position typical of flycatchers. In eastern woods in summer the plaintive whistled pee-a-wee of this small flycatcher is often heard before the bird is seen. Though identifying flycatchers can be confusing pewees are grayer overall with longer wings than other flycatchers.
Though identifying flycatchers can be confusing pewees are grayer overall with longer wings than other flycatchers. The greatest concern is the large population decline of this species over the past 45-plus years. Both sexes have similar plumage being generally greyish-olive on the upperparts and pale on the underparts.