EASTERN WOOD-PEWEE GALLERY
(Contopus virens)

eBird provides the following description of the Eastern Wood-Pewee:  Drab grayish-brown flycatcher found in forested areas and edges. It is usually seen on a high perch, watching for prey and sallying out to snatch insects. After these short flights, it often (but not always) returns to the same perch. Nondescript plumage with whitish wingbars; base of the bill is usually orange but hard to see. Note the loud song that rings through eastern woodlands: “PEE-a-weeeEEE.” Looks nearly identical to Western Wood-Pewee.

I saw my first Eastern Wood-Pewee at Sabine Woods Sanctuary on the afternoon of April 26, 2020.  I was able to identify this bird using the photo I took and the Merlin App.

Eastern Wood-Pewee “Cool Facts” From All About Birds…

• • When several flycatcher species live in the same forest, the Eastern Wood-Pewee tends to forage higher in the trees than the Least and Acadian flycatchers, but lower than the Great Crested Flycatcher.
  • The Eastern Wood-Pewee’s lichen-covered nest is so inconspicuous that it often looks like a knot on a branch.
  • The Eastern Wood-Pewee and Western Wood-Pewee have different calls but are nearly impossible to tell apart by eye. Their breeding ranges overlap in a very narrow zone in the Great Plains. Researchers have found no evidence that the two species interbreed in that area.
  • The oldest recorded Eastern Wood-Pewee was at least 8 years, 2 months old when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Maryland in 2010.