Eastern Wood-Pewee

1/500s, f5.6 ISO 800, Canon EOS-1D X w 800 lens


The Eastern Wood-pewee is a small tyrant flycatcher from North America. Their breeding habitat is deciduous, mixed woods, or pine plantations in eastern North America. These birds migrate to Central America and in the Andes region of northern South America. They feed on insects and other arthropods. Wood pewees wait on a perch at a middle height in a tree and fly out to catch prey in flight, sometimes hovering to pick it from vegetation. The female makes an open cup nest made of grasses, bark, and lichen, attached to a horizontal tree branch with spider webs. Nest sites range in height from 15 to 60 ft. The female lays almost always 3 (sometimes 2) translucent-white eggs with brown flecking concentrated towards the larger end of the ovate egg. Males are territorial and defend the nesting area aggressively, often fighting with neighboring co specifics and even pursue attacks on other species (e.g., Least Flycatchers, American Robins, Chipping Sparrows, Red-eyed Vireos, etc.). Males can sometimes be polygamist, mating with two females, simultaneously. The eggs hatch in 12 to 14 days and both parents bring food to the nestlings. Nestlings typically fledge 15 to 17 days after hatching; often ending up on the ground during the first flight out of the nest. The adults will perch on a nearby branch and call out to the nestlings, keeping contact and providing them with food until the young are able to fly to join them.
Boulder County, CO
 
09/02/2012