Smoke-colored Pewee

About the Smoke-colored Pewee

The smoke-colored pewee (Contopus fumigatus) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. The species is characterized by a uniform dusky-grey plumage. Smoke-colored pewees are found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela. Their natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and heavily degraded former forests.

The smoke-colored pewee belongs to the family Tyrannidae, known as the tyrant flycatchers. The Tyrannidae are considered to be the largest family of birds on earth, containing over 400 species. The group shows large variation in form and plumage and can be found in every country in the Americas.

The species was first formally described by the French naturalists Alcide d'Orbigny and Frédéric de Lafresnaye in 1837, based on a specimen found in the Bolivian Yungas. The generic name Contopus derives from the Ancient Greek kontos (pole) and pous (foot). The specific name fumigatus comes from the Latin fumus (smoke).

Six subspecies are recognized: C. f. ardosiacus (Lafresnaye, 1844) - Colombia and W Venezuela to E Ecuador and NE Peru C. f. cineraceus (Lafresnaye... Wikipedia →