Bird Guide

Eastern Wood Pewee vs Western Wood Pewee

Eastern Wood Pewee (Contopus virens)

Eastern Wood Pewee

Contopus virens

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The eastern wood pewee is 13.5–15 cm (5.3–5.9 in) in length and weighs around 14 g (0.49 oz). 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.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Eastern Wood Pewee
Recorded by Jonathan Sowers · Call, flight call · Skippack Township (near Collegeville), Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States · CC BY 4.0
Photo: lwolfartist · CC BY 2.0
Western Wood Pewee (Contopus sordidulus)

Western Wood Pewee

Contopus sordidulus

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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 tsees ending with a descending peeer. The bird is about 5.5–6.3 in (14–16 cm) in length, 0.4–0.5 oz (11–14 g) in weight, and has a wingspan of 10.2 in (26 cm).

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Western Wood Pewee
Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma · Song · Prairie Trail, Custer State Park, South Dakota, United States · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Yellowstone National Park · Public domain

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Eastern Wood Pewee and Western Wood Pewee.