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Greater Pewee

Contopus pertinaxOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

Greater-Pewee Portrait
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General

Greater Pewee: Large, plump flycatcher with olive-gray upperparts, white throat, gray breast, and pale yellow belly. Crest is slender. Bill is broad, flat, and two-toned: upper mandible is dark while lower is orange. Wings and tail are dark. Sexes are similar.

Range and 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.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

Whistled ho-sa, ma-re-ah.

Interesting Facts

 A group of pewees are collectively known as "a dribble of pewees", and a "squirt of pewees."  



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Greater Pewee
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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