Eastern Wood-pewee

The Eastern Wood-Pewee is a relatively plain gray bird with few distinguishing marks, and is often only safely identified from similar Flycatchers by it's voice and range.  The Western equivalent, the Western Wood-Pewee, looks almost exactly alike.  Fortunately, Wood-pewees are typically quite vocal, more often heard than seen, but the vocal nature of the species greatly aids identification in comparison to other flycatchers.  Eastern Wood-pewees are normally only found in the eastern part of South Dakota, with Western Wood-Pewees in the west, so location is also an excellent method for distinguishing species in South Dakota.

Habitat:

Prefers deciduous forest during the summer breeding season, although they will also use mixed forest.  They are normally found in and around forest openings and edges.  They winter along forest edges and scrubby forest in the tropics.

Diet:

Feeds almost exclusively on insects, especially flying insects.  Will also occasionally eat berries.

Behavior:

Normally feeds in typically flycatcher fashion, observing from a perch, and flying out to snag insects in mid-air once they're spotted.  They will also hover near vegetation and pick off insects on foliage.

Nesting:

June and July.  The nest of an Eastern Wood-Pewee is a cup of grasses, sedges, and spider webs, with the outside sometimes covered with lichens.  The female usually lays 3 eggs, and she alone incubates them.  When the eggs hatch, both parents help to feed the young.  The young fledge after a little more than 2 weeks.

Song:

Distinctive slow pee-a-wee with pitch that typical starts high, drops suddenly, and then slowly rises again.. 

¹Click here to hear the song of an Eastern Wood-pewee

Migration:

Summers throughout the eastern half of the United states and southeastern Canada.  Winters in South America. 

Interactive eBird Map:

Click here to access an interactive eBird map of Eastern Wood Pewee sightings

Similar Species:

Flycatcher species in general can be confusing, and there are multiple species that provide an identification challenge:

• Western Wood-Pewee - Western Wood-pewees are the western North America equivalent to the Eastern Wood-pewee.  They are virtually impossible to differentiate by appearance. Their ranges generally don't overlap, and thus the location of a sighting is the best way to tell them apart. In South Dakota, a Wood-pewee in the eastern half of South Dakota is almost certainly an eastern Wood-Pewee, while one in the Black Hills is a Western Wood-pewee. Voice is another way to differentiate the two if a bird is heard vocalizing.
• Eastern Phoebe - Another flycatcher that can be found in South Dakota in migration and in the summer months, they are similar to Eastern Wood-pewee in structure and size. However, Eastern Phoebe are generally darker on their upperparts, and lack the (admittedly sometimes weak) wingbars that are present on an Eastern Wood-pewee. Eastern Phoebe's also tend to have more uniformly colored, light underparts, while an Eastern Wood-pewee is often described as having a "vested" look, with grayer flanks separated by a whitish streak down the belly (often with a yellowish tinge on the lower belly). Habitat is also a clue, as Eastern Phoebes are more apt to be found in open or semi-open habitats than are Eastern Wood-pewees.
• Olive-sided Flycatcher - Olive-sided Flycatchers are migrants through South Dakota. They are known for their "vested" look, with an even more pronounced and obvious vest appearance than an Eastern Wood-pewee. Olive-sided Flycatchers are also slightly larger than an Eastern Wood-pewee (although size can be difficult to judge in the field). Behavior is sometimes a clue for differentiating the two species, as Olive-sided Flycatchers are often found on the tallest perch on the edge of a forest clearing, while Eastern Wood-pewees are generally less found in such an open setting.
• Willow Flycatcher - Each of the small Empidonax flycatchers could potentially be confused with an Eastern Wood-pewee. Given the similarity in appearance and size among all the Empidonax, here I'll only list one, the Willow Flycatcher, as like the Eastern Wood-pewee, it's a species that can be found in South Dakota as not only a migrant, but as a summer breeding bird. Willow Flycatchers are smaller than Eastern Wood-pewee, but size is difficult to judge in the field. Willow Flycatchers tend to have more of a yellowish-green on their head and back than the more gray color of an Eastern Wood-pewee. They also have shorter wings and tail compared to an Eastern Wood-pewee.

Western Wood-pewee	Eastern Phoebe	Willow Flycatcher

Conservation Status:

Eastern Wood-pewees are still common in many locations, and they are found across a very broad geographic area.  However, systematic surveys have shown an significant decline in recent decades. Nevertheless, at the present the IUCN lists the Eastern Wood-Pewee as a species of "Least Concern".

Further Information:

1) Sibley Guide - Eastern Wood-Pewee

2) Audubon - Eastern Wood-Pewee

3) WhatBird - Eastern Wood-Pewee

Photo Information:

 June 2nd, 2005 -- Perry Nature area just east of Sioux Falls -- Terry L. Sohl

Additional Photos:

Click on the image chips or text links below for additional, higher-resolution Eastern Wood-pewee photos.

Audio File Credits:

¹Christopher McPherson. Recorded in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire on June 13th, 2020. Original recording and information available on xeno-canto.

 

Click on the map above for a higher-resolution view

South Dakota Status: Common migrant and summer resident in the southeastern part of the state, less common elsewhere in the East.  Accidental in the western part of the state.

Additional Eastern Wood-pewee Photos
Click for a higher-resolution version of these photos