On the past few evenings, an eastern wood pewee has appeared in our central Missouri yard, drawn to a dead snag on an aging tuliptree. This rather nondescript, medium-sized flycatcher is a common summer resident across the eastern U.S., where it is best observed in open woodlands, along forest margins or in riparian groves.
Hunting from the end of a dead branch, eastern wood pewees make frequent sorties, flying out to snare an insect and then returning to its perch. This characteristic activity, combined with the flycatcher's distinctive "pee-a-wee" call, make identification easy despite its many similar (though less common) cousins.
Current evidence suggests that eastern wood pewees are monogamous and share feeding duties; a cup-shaped nest, covered with lichens, is placed in the mid canopy of a deciduous tree and 2-4 eggs are generally produced. By late summer, the parents and their offspring migrate independently, heading for the forests and woodlands of northern South America where they winter alone.
Hunting from the end of a dead branch, eastern wood pewees make frequent sorties, flying out to snare an insect and then returning to its perch. This characteristic activity, combined with the flycatcher's distinctive "pee-a-wee" call, make identification easy despite its many similar (though less common) cousins.
Current evidence suggests that eastern wood pewees are monogamous and share feeding duties; a cup-shaped nest, covered with lichens, is placed in the mid canopy of a deciduous tree and 2-4 eggs are generally produced. By late summer, the parents and their offspring migrate independently, heading for the forests and woodlands of northern South America where they winter alone.
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