The eastern wood pewee (Contopus virens) is a small tyrant flycatcher from North, Central and South America. This bird and the western wood pewee (C. sordidulus) were formerly considered a single species. The two species are virtually identical in appearance, and can be distinguished most easily by their calls.

Taxonomy

In 1760, the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the eastern wood pewee in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in the Carolinas. He used the French name Le gobe-mouche cendré de la Coroline and the Latin Muscicapa Carolinensis cinerea. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. The specific name virens is Latin for "green". This species is now placed in the genus Contopus that was introduced by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1855. The species is monotypic.

Description

thumb|[[South Padre Island, Texas]]

The eastern wood pewee is in length and weighs around . Wingspan ranges 9.1–10.2 in (23–26 cm). The sexes are alike. The adult is gray-olive on the upperparts with light underparts, washed with olive on the breast. Each wing has two pale wing bars, and the primary remiges are long, giving the wingtip a slim and very pointed appearance. The upper part of the bill is dark, the lower part is yellowish. The songs are basically a mournful whistled pee-a'wee given in a series, which gave this bird its name, and a "pe-wee" with a rising note at the end.

  • Eastern wood pewee – Contopus virens – USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
  • Species account – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
  • Bird sound - Florida Museum of Natural History
  • Eastern wood pewee, Familiar Birds
  • Range in Canada - Canadian Biodiversity website
  • Eastern wood pewee, Environment Canada