Friday's Foto

Of the somewhat drab flycatchers encountered around New York City during migration, the Eastern Wood-Pewee rescues confused birders by obligingly making a distinctive, slurred "pee-a-wee" song. This small flycatcher with gray-olive upperparts and pale gray underparts is noteworthy for their long wings and tails, short legs and peaked crown. Virtually indistinguishable from the Western Wood-Pewee (which was once thought to be the same species) it is best identified by range and vocalizations.

Typically seen foraging by sallying out from a dead branch, their diet consists primarily of flies, bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, grasshoppers and crickets. They will also eat smaller amounts of berries and seeds.

Breeding in nearly any type of wooded habitat, their range is the eastern United States and southeastern Canada.

They overwinter mostly in northern South America and possibly Central America, usually below 4,300 feet of elevation.

According to the IUCN Red List their conservation status is "Least Concern".

Its scientific name, Contopus virens, means pole foot and green.