Eastern Wood Pewee Guide

Eastern Wood Pewee is a small songbird with olive-gray upperparts and pale underparts. It has a distinctive white wing bar and a pale yellow belly. The bird also has a long, narrow bill and a slightly crested head. The Eastern Wood Pewee can be found in deciduous forests and wooded areas throughout the eastern United States and Canada.

To identify the Eastern Wood Pewee, look for its unique markings and overall coloration. The bird’s olive-gray upperparts and pale underparts make it easy to distinguish from other birds. The white wing bar and pale yellow belly are also key identifying features. Additionally, the bird’s long, narrow bill and slightly crested head are distinctive characteristics.

Habitat

The Eastern Wood Pewee is a small songbird that is native to the eastern United States and Canada. It is typically found in deciduous forests and wooded areas, where it is often seen perched on tree branches or hovering over open areas in search of insects. The bird is most common in mature forests with a mixture of tree species, including oak, maple, and hickory.

In the northern part of its range, the Eastern Wood Pewee can be found in the boreal forest, where it breeds during the summer months. It is also commonly seen in the eastern Great Lakes region and in the Appalachians. The bird is known to migrate south in the fall, with many individuals wintering in Central America and northern South America.

The Eastern Wood Pewee is a habitat generalist and can adapt to a variety of forested environments. However, it is sensitive to habitat fragmentation and is declining in some areas due to the loss of large, intact forests. The bird is also vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which can alter the availability of food and suitable nesting sites.

Diet

The Eastern Wood Pewee is a small insectivorous bird, which means that the majority of its diet consists of insects. These birds are agile fliers, and they use their sharp eyesight to spot insects flying by. They will often perch on a branch or limb and wait for insects to come within range, before quickly darting out to catch them in midair.

During the breeding season, Eastern Wood Pewees primarily eat flying insects, including flies, beetles, moths, and wasps. They will also occasionally eat spiders, which they capture by snatching them from their webs. In the winter, when insects are less abundant, Eastern Wood Pewees may also eat fruit and berries.

In addition to the insects that they catch in midair, Eastern Wood Pewees will also glean insects from the leaves and branches of trees. They have a unique hunting technique where they fly to a tree, land on a branch, and then use their long, slender bill to probe the bark and leaves for insects. This allows them to feed on insects that other birds might not be able to reach.

Mating and Child Rearing

The Eastern Wood Pewee is a monogamous bird, which means that it forms a pair bond with a single mate each breeding season. These birds are solitary nesters, and they will often defend a small territory around their nest from other Eastern Wood Pewees.

During the breeding season, the male Eastern Wood Pewee will perform a distinctive courtship display to attract a mate. This involves singing its distinctive “pee-a-wee” song from a high perch, while flicking its wings and tail. If a female is interested, she will approach the male and the two birds will begin to build a nest together.

The female Eastern Wood Pewee does most of the work of building the nest, which is a small, cup-shaped structure made of bark, plant fibers, and spider webs. She will also do the majority of the incubation of the eggs, which usually number between four and six. Both parents will help to feed the nestlings, which hatch after about 12-14 days of incubation. The young birds will fledge after another 12-14 days, at which point they will be able to fly and begin to forage for insects on their own.

Migration

The Eastern Wood Pewee is a migratory bird, which means that it travels long distances between its breeding and wintering grounds each year. During the breeding season, which typically lasts from April to September, these birds can be found throughout much of eastern North America, from the Great Lakes region to the eastern seaboard.

In the fall, when the weather begins to cool and food becomes scarce, many Eastern Wood Pewees will begin to migrate to Central and South America, where they will spend the winter. These birds typically migrate at night, and they will often fly in large flocks. They follow a variety of different migration routes, depending on where they are breeding, but most birds will fly south and west until they reach the Gulf Coast. From there, they will continue south and west through Mexico and Central America, before eventually reaching their wintering grounds in South America.

Once they arrive at their wintering grounds, Eastern Wood Pewees will typically spend the next few months feeding and resting, in preparation for the long journey back to their breeding grounds in the spring. In the early spring, when the weather begins to warm and food becomes more abundant, these birds will begin their journey back north. They will follow a similar route to the one they took on their way south, and they will typically return to their breeding grounds in April or May, in time to begin the breeding season.

Bibliography:

“Eastern Wood-Pewee” (Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
“Eastern Wood-Pewee” (Audubon Field Guide)