Tropical Pewee (Contopus cinereus)

Identification & Behavior: ~14.5 cm (5.7 in). The Tropical Pewee has a gray mantle and gray crown/bushy crest. The nape and sides of the head are lighter gray and generally contrast with the darker crown/crest. The sides of the breast and belly are grayish with a pale center. The amount of whitish edging and wing bars on the wing coverts and flight feathers is variable and may be linked to the wearing of the plumage. It has a bicolored bill. The tail is slightly notched. It forages at forest edges, semiopen habitats, and scrub. It is similar to the Alder Flycatcher but is distinguished by a more upright posture, a more prominent crest, and a contrasting gray crown and sides of the head and nape.

Status: The Tropical Pewee is uncommon to rare in relatively dry habitats on the west slope Andes and the Marañon Drainage at elevations ranging between 500-1400 m. The Tropical Pewee also occurs as an Austral migrant in Southeast Peru. It also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Pibí Tropical.

Sub-species: Tropical Pewee (Contopus cinereus punensis), Lawrence, 1869.  W Ecuador and W & C Peru.
(Contopus cinereus pallescens), (Hellmayr), 1927.  SC & E Brazil S to NE Paraguay, Bolivia and NW Argentina.

Meaning of Name: Contopus: Gr. kontos= pole, shaft and pous, podos= foot. cinereus: L. cinis, cineris= ashes, cinereus= ash-grey, ash-coloured.

See more of the Family Tyrannidae