Quantcast

Greater Pewee

Contopus pertinaxOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
Greater-Peewee Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: All-purpose
  • Eye Color: Brown.
  • Head Pattern: Plain, Eyering (complete or broken)
  • Crown Color: Olive-gray
  • Forehead Color: Olive-gray
  • Nape Color: Olive-gray
  • Throat Color: White
  • Cere color: No Data
Greater-Pewee Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 20 cm (8 in)
  • Weight: 28 g (1 oz)
  • Size: Size 2. Small (5 - 9 in)
  • Color: White, Gray, Olive
  • Underparts: Pale gray with yellow wash on belly.
  • Upperparts: Olive-gray
  • Back Pattern: Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Short flights with rapid wing beats.
  • Wingspan Range: 34 cm (13.5 in)
  • Wing Shape: Rounded-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Fan-shaped Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: Gray
  • Under Tail: Gray
  • Leg Color: Black
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Flycatcher (Tyrannidae)_blue
Species Contopus pertinax
Length8 Inches
Wingspan13.5 Inches

Greater Pewee

Greater Pewee: Large, plump flycatcher, olive-gray upperparts, white throat, gray breast, pale yellow belly. Slender crest. Broad, flat bill is two-toned: upper mandible is dark, lower is orange. Wings and tail are dark. Short flights on rapid shallow wing beats. Sallies out to take insects in air.

● Song: Whistled ho-sa, ma-re-ah.

● Foraging & Feeding: Greater Pewee: Eats mostly flying insects, but also berries in winter. Sits erect, often on a treetop perch, turning its head from side to side watching for prey, which it catches in mid-air or on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Greater Pewee: Three or four white eggs, marked with brown and gray at large end, are laid in a compact, woven, grass-lined cup nest set high on a horizontal limb, secured with cobwebs and camouflaged on the outside. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Greater Pewee: Olive-sided Flycatcher has darker sides, darker bill, and white patches above the wings (not always visible). Western Wood-Pewee is smaller with a darker bill.

Flight Pattern

Short flights with rapid wing beats.
Greater-Pewee Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Greater Pewee: Breeds from central Arizona and southwestern New Mexico southward. Spends winters mainly south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Preferred habitats include highland coniferous forests, especially pine and pine-oak.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationFairly common, Stable
MigrationMigratory
Weight1 Ounces