Bird Guide

Greater Pewee vs Western Wood Pewee

Greater Pewee (Contopus pertinax)

Greater Pewee

Contopus pertinax

Small27 gForest

The greater pewee is 18 to 20 cm (7.1 to 7.9 in) long and weighs about 22 to 36 g (0.78 to 1.3 oz). The sexes have the same plumage with a spiky crest. Subspecies C. p. minor is smaller than the nominate but has essentially the same plumage. Adults have a plain olive-gray head and upperparts, with pale lores and a slightly lighter face than the rest of the head. Their wings are dusky grayish brown with grayish olive ends on the coverts that show as two faint wing bars. They have pale grayish edges on their secondaries. Their tail is dusky grayish brown. Voice: The two subspecies of the greater pewee have different songs. That of the nominate subspecies is "a plaintive Ho-say ma-ree-ah" that gives rise to its Mexican Spanish name "papamoscas José María". There is some variation in the number of ho-say notes. The song of subspecies C. p. minor is "fred-rick fear".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: HarmonyonPlanetEarth · CC BY 2.0
Western Wood Pewee (Contopus sordidulus)

Western Wood Pewee

Contopus sordidulus

Tiny13 gForest

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: Greater Pewee and Western Wood Pewee.