Eastern Wood-Pewee
Contopus virens
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyTyrannidae (Tyrant Flycatchers)
- GenusContopus (Pewees)
- SpeciesContopus virens (Eastern Wood-Pewee)
About the Eastern Wood-Pewee
The eastern wood pewee (Contopus virens) is a small tyrant flycatcher from North, Central and South America. This bird and the western wood pewee (C. sordidulus) were formerly considered a single species. The two species are virtually identical in appearance, and can be distinguished most easily by their calls.
In 1760, the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the eastern wood pewee in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in the Carolinas. He used the French name Le gobe-mouche cendré de la Coroline and the Latin Muscicapa Carolinensis cinerea. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the eastern wood pewee. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Muscicapa virens and cited Brisson's work. The specific name virens is Latin for "green". This species is now placed in the genus Contopus that was introduced... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Eastern Wood-Pewee in Death Valley National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Death Valley National Park
Western Wood-Pewee
Contopus sordidulus
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Contopus cooperi
Say's Phoebe
Sayornis saya
Black Phoebe
Sayornis nigricans
Western Kingbird
Tyrannus verticalis
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Myiarchus cinerascens
Vermilion Flycatcher
Pyrocephalus rubinus
Hammond's Flycatcher
Empidonax hammondii
Tropical Kingbird
Tyrannus melancholicus
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Myiarchus tuberculifer
Dusky Flycatcher
Empidonax oberholseri
Gray Flycatcher
Empidonax wrightii
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.