Greater Pewee

Contopus pertinax Order: PASSERIFORMES Family: 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
Splitbar

Recommended Products:

Clingers Only Feeder
Weather resistant inexpensive feeder is ideal for small birds.
Suet Delight
Easy to hang and maintain, holds all kinds of packaged suet.
Ultimate Woodpecker Feeder
Only allows woodpeckers to feed made of Inland Cedar.
The No-No Copper Feeder
Beautiful copper feeder holds 2.5 lbs of sunflower seeds.
Attracting Clingers
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
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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: "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