Western wood pewee
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Contopus sordidulus
Life Span
8 years
Weight
13
0
goz
g oz 
Length
133.4-165.1
5.3-6.5
mminch
mm inch 
Wingspan
82.6-88.9
3.3-3.5
mminch
mm inch 

The western wood pewee (Contopus sordidulus ) is a small tyrant flycatcher. Adults are gray-olive on the upperparts with light underparts, washed with olive on the breast. They have two wing bars and a dark bill with yellow at the base of the lower mandible. This bird is very similar in appearance to the eastern wood pewee; the two birds were formerly considered to be one species. The call of C. sordidulus is a loud buzzy peeer ; the song consists of three rapid descending tsee s ending with a descending peeer.

Appearance

Measurements:

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  • Length: 5.5-6.3 in (14-16 cm)
  • Weight: 0.4-0.5 oz (11-14 g)
  • Wingspan: 10.2 in (26 cm)

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Distribution

Geography

Their breeding habitat is open wooded areas in western North America. These birds migrate to South America at the end of summer. The female lays two or three eggs in an open cup nest on a horizontal tree branch or within a tree cavity; California black oak forests are examples of suitable nesting habitat for this species of bird. Both parents feed the young.

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They wait on a perch at a middle height in a tree and fly out to catch insects in flight (hawking), sometimes hovering to pick insects from vegetation (gleaning).

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Western wood pewee habitat map

Climate zones

Western wood pewee habitat map
Western wood pewee
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Habits and Lifestyle

Seasonal behavior
Bird's call

Diet and Nutrition

Mating Habits

MATING BEHAVIOR

Population

References

1. Western wood pewee Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_wood_pewee
2. Western wood pewee on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22699811/93748966
3. Xeno-canto bird call - https://xeno-canto.org/701074

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