Bird a Day: Eastern Wood Pewee

The Eastern Wood Pewee is a fairly common bird in the deciduous forests of eastern North America.  They belong to the flycatcher family Tyrannidae.  This bird was living up to his name when I found him.  There were many small gnats flying in swarms in the air and this pewee was flying quick out into the swarms, doing some acrobatics to catch a gnat, and then coming back to another branch and doing it all over again.  They are one of many birds that were named after the song they sing.  The Eastern Wood Pewee's song is a rising "pe-ah-wee" followed by a downward "wee-ur".  Eastern Wood Pewee's are declining in eastern forests and it may be due to the overpopulation of White-tailed Deer.  Deer are over-browsing the understory and intermediate canopy, leaving little habitat for this bird and many other species of animals.

Identification of the Eastern Wood Pewee can be tough for those unfamiliar with the flycatchers.  Most flycatchers are the same dull brownish-gray color, but the pewee is larger than other similar flycatchers like the Acadian and Least.  The pewee has two whitish wing bars, a dark wash on the sides under the wings, and no eyering.  You most likely would be able to identify it by song before you even saw the bird anyway, which is a good reason to brush up on your bird songs.

Posted in: Eastern Wood Pewee

Beckham Bird Club: Joe Creason Park

Barbara Woerner led a field trip to Joe Creason Park today and it was a blast.  Dense fog greeted us as we began the trip but it gradually lifted as the day went on.  Warblers were falling off the trees and everyone in attendance got great looks at several birds.  We barely made it out of the parking lot for the first two hours of the field trip.  A big willow tree next to the parking lot had so many good birds we stood and watched it for almost an hour.  Below are some of the birds we saw in the one tree alone.

Blackburnian Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler

Least Flycatcher

Yellow Warbler

Tennessee Warbler

Eastern Wood Peewee

Cape May Warblers were in abundance foraging in the Spruce trees for bugs and caterpillars.  Several were seen in the Spruces along the road back to the Metro Administration Building.  Everyone was very helpful in trying to get me good looks at this bird so I could get a photograph.  I got a couple decent snaps but the overcast sky tends to wash out the detail in the bird's plumage.

Cape May Warbler

Here are a few random birds from the walk.

Gray Catbird

American Robin

Baltimore Oriole

We made out way to the bridge over Beargrass Creek where we saw a nesting pair of Eastern Phoebes and a very cooperative American Redstart.  The phoebes must have a nest under the bridge because they kept coming and going from the same branch.  They would fly from the branch to the underside of the bridge with a mouthful of bugs, and then from the bridge to the branch with their beaks empty.  A telltale sign that they have a nest and are feeding young.

Eastern Phoebe with food on way to nest

Eastern Phoebe without food after flying to bridge

A male American Redstart was foraging very close to the bridge, coming within a few feet at times.

American Redstart

I want to thank Barbara for putting us on some great birds.  A total of 74 birds (20 species of warblers) were seen in about four hours.  Warblers seen that I didn't get pictures of are: Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Canada, Northern Parula, Common Yellowthroat, several Nashville, Black-and-White, Blackpoll, Palm, Ovenbird, and apparently four more I can't remember!

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Posted in: Baltimore Oriole,Blackburnian Warbler,Cape May Warbler,Eastern Phoebe,Eastern Wood Pewee,Gray Catbird,Joe Creason Park,Least Flycatcher,Prothonotary Warbler,Tennessee Warbler,Yellow Warbler