Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)

Identification & Behavior: ~14.5 cm (5.7 in). The Eastern Wood-Pewee is mostly gray with a crested head and two whitish wing bars. The lower mandible is yellow-orange tipped with black. The sides of the breast and belly are grayish with pale on the center. The tail is slightly notched. It forages at the edges forest and in semi-open habitats where it perches high on exposed branches. It is very similar to the Western Wood-Pewee, which ranges at higher elevations on the east slope of the Andes. In places where these two pewees come in contact, the voice is perhaps the most reliable method for aroper identification. The also similar Alder Flycatcher has better-defined wing bars and black wing coverts, flicks the tail, and forages near the ground.

Status: The Eastern Wood-Pewee is uncommon in Amazonia where it ranges at elevations of up to 1300 m on the east slope of the Andes. The Eastern Wood-Pewee is a Boreal migrant to Peru expected during the months of September through April. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Pibí Oriental.

Sub-species: Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens), (Linnaeus), 1766.

Meaning of Name: Contopus: Gr. kontos= pole, shaft and pous, podos= foot. virens: L. virens, virentis= green, virere= to be green.

See more of the Family Tyrannidae