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Who's That Singing? Eastern Wood-Pewee

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The Eastern Wood Pewee is an adorable little nugget of a bird. It’s small, maxing out at 0.7 ounces and less than 6 inches from head to tail. It is a flycatcher species, so it has long wings and tails — and as the name might suggest, they are insectivores so their beaks are small and narrow. They have a white belly, chest and throat, with dark brown head, back, wings, and tail. They’re really, really cute!

Eastern Wood-Pewee from behind, showing the dark head, back, wings, and tail. The wings have two white wingbars. (Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar FCC)

Eastern Wood-Pewee from the front, showing the white underside. (Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren FCC)

But maybe part of me thinks they are so cute because of their song. The Eastern Wood-Pewee is a bird that “says its name” — you can hear the bird sing “peee-weeeee!” And they way they sing it reminds me so much of a whiney toddler! It makes me chuckle in an indulgent “well, at least it’s not my kid whining this time!” sort of way.

Although the song is sung by males primarily to establish and maintain breeding territories, it’s quite a common song in any woods in Wisconsin throughout the summer (not just spring during nesting). This is a great bird song to learn, as you hear it throughout the spring, summer, and fall before these little cuties migrate ALL the way to South America where insects abound in the winter.

These are woodland and forest bird, so any type of wooded habitat will echo with sounds of cute whiny toddlers. As they hunt insects, they do what’s called “sallying” — meaning, the bird catches the insect mid-air, then returns to its perch to eat it. Then they dart out to catch an insect again, and return to the perch to eat. Back and forth and back and forth.

Pewees also use an alarm call when feeling threatened or to alert others of threats.

Alarm call:

I hope you enjoy this cutie as much as I do, and get to hear them a lot before they leave Wisconsin for their balmy winter grounds in South America!

Who’s That Singing? is a series designed for Birding by Ear class participants but available to anyone interested in learning more!

Written by Brenna Marsicek, Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance director of outreach

other articles in the Who’s That Singing? series:

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Who's That Singing? Eastern Wood-Pewee

But maybe part of me thinks they are so cute because of their song. The Eastern Wood-Pewee is a bird that “says its name” — you can hear the bird sing “peee-weeeee!” And they way they sing it reminds me so much of a whiney toddler! It makes me chuckle in an indulgent “well, at least it’s not my kid whining this time!” sort of way.

Photo by Kelly Colgan Azar FCC

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