Western Wood-Pewee
Contopus sordidulus
Morphology 3
Tail: 7-7.62 cm
Western wood-pewees have angular heads with moderate crests. Their flanks and sides are dark brown with blurry streaks that go toward the lower sides. Their tertials are distinctly fringed and are more obvious than their wing bars. Western wood-pewees' tails are short relative to their body proportions. They have long upper tail coverts which reach the midway point of the primary extensions, which are known to be long. Their bills are mostly dark, the lower mandibles are about 50% darker than the unpper mandibles. Their breasts have an olive look. Also, the throats have a whitish color which continues on their bellies and under their tails.
There are differences between the adult and the juvenile plumage. The adult has more of a grayish throat whereas the juvenile has a dull color. Also the wing bars are not as vibrant on juveniles as they are on adult C. sordidulus.
Trophic strategy 4
The majority of the time, C. sordidulus feed on insects such as flies, wasps, bees, ants, beetles, moths, and butterflies. On other occasions they eat dragonflies, termites, and spiders. All the insects are caught in the air. Contopus sordidulus hunt from the perch and capture prey by twisting very quickly in the air. Immediately after catching a prey item, they return to the perch.
Behaviour 5
Contopus sordidulus are very hard to differentiate from other birds in their family, such as eastern wood-pewees. But the one thing that does stand out is their communication calls. Eastern wood-pewees have a nasal whistle that sounds like "DREE-yurr" or "breerrr". It sounds very rough. Western wood-pewees sound a bit different, like a plain, sneezy, "brrrt". During breeding a sound is sent out as "tswee-tee-teet".
Sources and Credits
- (c) Rick Leche - Photography, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/64649343@N00/2514789970
- (c) Arthur Chapman, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/32005048@N06/3827405593
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31387375
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31387379
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31387378
More Info
Range Map
iNaturalist.ca Map
| Animal | Bird |
|---|---|
| Bird | Tyrant Flycatchers (Tyrannidae) |
