The Western Wood-Pewee, Contopus sordidulus, is a small tyrant flycatcher.

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.

Their breeding habitat is open wooded areas in western North America. The female lays 2 or 3 eggs in an open cup nest on a horizontal tree branch. Both parents feed the young.

These birds migrate to South America at the end of summer.

They wait on a perch at a middle height in a tree and fly out to catch insects in flight (hawking), sometimes hovering to pick insects from vegetation (gleaning).

The call is a loud buzzy peeer. The song consists of three rapid descending tsees ending with a descending peeer.

References

• Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

• Western Wood-pewee Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Western Wood-pewee - Contopus sordidulus - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• Western Wood-pewee Information and Photos - South Dakota Birds and Birding
• Western Wood-Pewee videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• "Western Wood-Pewee" photo gallery VIREO Photo-High Res--(Close-up)
• Photo-High Res; Article – "Utah Birds"–(clickable Photo Gallery)