Migratory Status: Neotropical migrant
PIF Population Estimate: 
6 000 000
Percent of western hemisphere population breeding in boreal forest: <25%
BAM Effective Detection Radius (m) : 104.35
PIF Maximum Detection Distance (m) : 200
Canadian BBS Population trend: -4.3 (-6.4 to -2.1)
Life History
The Eastern Wood-Pewee is a small, indistinct flycatcher with a grayish-olive back, pale underparts, and whitish wing bars. Strikingly similar in appearance to the Western Wood-Pewee (C. sordidulus), the Eastern Wood-Pewee is best distinguished from its western counterpart by a clear, three-phrased song, often paraphrased as “pee-ah-wee”.
The breeding range of the Eastern Wood-Pewee includes much of the forested regions of eastern North America, extending as far west as the hundredth meridian. Within the boreal forest, the breeding range includes portions of the boreal hardwood and transition forests in southeastern Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. The winter range includes most of northern South America, from northwestern Colombia and northeast Venezuela, south to southern Peru, northern Bolivia, and the Amazon basin in Brazil. Some evidence suggests that the species also winters in portions of Central America and the United States Gulf Coast, but there is a strong probability that the few records may be misidentifications.
The Eastern Wood-Pewee feeds exclusively on flying insects, typically sallying out from an exposed perch in the mid-canopy to catch its prey then returning to the same perch. Although insects do make up a significant portion of the diet, berries and seeds of various species are also consumed.
Reference(s)
McCarty, J. P. 1996. Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens), The Birds of North America, No. 245. A. Poole and F. Gill, eds. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists's Union, Washington, D.C.
