Eastern Wood-Pewee

Distribution and Abundance

• BBS Map
• Breeding range central and eastern United States; also southern central and southeastern Canada.
• Seldom reported outside of its normal range. Casual in states bordering breeding range in western United States (A.O.U. 1983).
• No historical changes in distribution noted; range in the late 1800s not significantly different than current range (Bendire 1895).
• Winters primarily in northern South America.

Habitat

• Breeds in virtually every type of wooded habitat in the East, including both deciduous and coniferous forest (Kendeigh 1944, 1948, Bond 1957, Hespenheide 1971, Peck and James 1987).
• Usually associated with forest clearings and edges. Often found in riparian areas in the Midwest, but tends to avoid streams in eastern forests (Murray and Stauffer 1995). In 64 forest stands in southern Wisconsin, Eastern Wood-Pewee nearly ubiquitous across a gradient of forest communities (Bond 1957). Habitat suitability in Iowa increased rapidly with tree density from 0-100 trees/ha and then leveled off or declined with densities up to 1600 trees/ha (Best and Stauffer 1986). In the transition zone between eastern deciduous forest and northern coniferous forests in northern Lower Michigan, found in forests of cedar-aspen, aspen-red maple, beech-maple-pine, and pine-aspen, but absent in cedar-balsam fir (Kendeigh 1948).
• In Wisconsin, 60% of 1261 observations from 1995-2000 were in upland hardwood forest (strong preferences for oak and maple) and 20% in upland mixed forest, predominately with pine (WSO 2002). In Michigan, 81% of observations from 1983-1988 were in deciduous forests and 12% in mixed forests; a slight preference for dry sites over mesic or wet sites was noted in both forest types (Brewer et al. 1991). 
• Nests in trees or saplings (Mossman and Lange 1982, Peck and James 1987). Most common tree species in Canada were elms, oaks, maples, birches, and apples (Peck and James 1987). Nest record cards indicate 28 species of deciduous trees from 18 genera and 6 species of conifers from the Pinus genus; most common were oaks, maples and pines.
• Size of forest fragments does not appear to be an important factor in habitat selection (Blake and Karr 1987, Robbins et al. 1989, Freemark and Collins 1992). Uses both edge and suburban habitats. Found in isolated forest fragments in east-central Illinois ranging in size from 1.8 to 600 ha (Blake and Karr 1987); also found in wooded riparian habitats as small as 20 m wide (Stauffer and Best 1980).
• During migration, found in a variety of habitats with trees and shrubs, including edges, early successional clearings, and primary and secondary forest (Ridgely and Gwynne 1989, Stiles and Skutch 1989, Arendt 1992). In winter, uses a variety of wooded, partially cleared, and shrubby habitats, generally below 1,300 m (Meyer de Schauensee and Phelps 1978, Hilty and Brown 1986, Ridgely and Tudor 1994). 

Behavior

• Insectivorous; primarily small flying insects taken during sallies from a perch (Johnston 1971, Gray 1993). Foraging habits during migration and in winter appear to be similar to those used on breeding grounds (Fitzpatrick 1980).
• Males may alter singing patterns in response to other males (Bent 1942, Smith 1988). Territorial fighting and chasing reported. Males physically attack other species that approach during singing (Smith 1988). 
• Territory size typically ranges from an average of 2.2 ha for 15 forest plots in Iowa (Best and Stauffer 1986) to an average of 7.7 ha for 64 forest stands in Wisconsin (Bond 1957).
• Territories overlap with Great Crested Flycatcher and Least Flycatcher; no interspecific territoriality observed (Johnston 1971).
• Solitary during migration and on wintering grounds (Stiles and Skutch 1989, Ridgely and Tudor 1994). 

Parasitism and Predation

• Known to be a host of the Brown-headed Cowbird, although no information if this species deserts parasitized nests, ejects or buries cowbird eggs, nor on percentage of successfully fledged cowbirds (Friedmann 1963, Friedmann 1985). 
• In Wisconsin, 3 of 477 confirmed Brown-headed Cowbird observations from 1995-2000 listed Eastern Wood-Pewee as host species (WSO 2002). 
• In Canada, 6 of 117 nests were parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbird (Peck and James 1987).

Conservation and Management

• Artificially high populations of white-tailed deer found in much of the northeast U.S. may lower breeding populations of Eastern Wood-Pewees. Species not detected on plots with greater than 7.9 deer/km², probably due to disturbance of the intermediate canopy structure in heavily browsed areas (deCalesta 1994).
• In forests sprayed with diflubenzuron for gypsy moth control, birds found to have reduced fat stores, probably due to reduced populations of insect prey (Whitmore et al. 1993). Diet composition of birds in sprayed areas differed significantly from those in unsprayed plots, with insects from the orders Diptera and Homoptera consumed more on sprayed plots  (Sample et al. 1993).
• Significant decrease in population over the last 25 years, but still considered common and not officially listed as Threatened, Vulnerable, or Of Special Concern.
• Forestry practices that maintain large tracts of intermediate aged forest with closed canopy and limited clear cuts (less than 10 ha) along with thinning to remove mature trees and large-diameter woody growth should provide adequate habitat for Eastern Wood-Pewees (Stauffer and Best 1980, Crawford et al. 1981). 
• BBS trend results from 1966-2000 (Sauer et al. 2001) in the Northern Spruce-Hardwoods region indicate the Eastern Wood-Pewee population has declined substantially in this region  (-4.0, p=0.00 Trend Graph S28); on the other hand, in the Great Lakes Transition region, this species has not experienced a significant decrease (-0.5, p=0.24 Trend Graph S20). Survey-wide (US and Canada), this species has shown a significant decline (-1.7, p=0.00 Trend Graph SUR).

References

• American Ornithologists' Union. 1983. Checklist of North American birds. 6th ed. Am. Ornithol. Union, Washington, D.C.
• Arendt, W.J. 1992. Status of North American migrant landbirds in the Caribbean region: a summary. Pp. 143-170 in Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds (J.M. Hagen III and D.W. Johnston, eds.). Smithson. Inst. Press, Washington, D.C.
• Bendire, C. 1895. Life histories of North American birds from the parrots to the grackles. U.S. Natl. Mus. Spec. Bull. no. 3.
• Bent, A.C. 1942. Life histories of North American flycatchers, larks, swallows, and their allies. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 179.
• Best, L.B. and D.F. Stauffer. 1986. Factors confounding evaluation of bird-habitat relationships. Pp. 209-216 in Wildlife 2000: modeling habitat relationships of terrestrial vertebrates (J. Verner, M.L. Morrison, and C.J. Ralph, eds.). Univ. of Wisconsin Press, Madison.
• Blake, J.G. and J.R. Karr. 1987. Breeding birds in isolated woodlots: area and habitat relationships. Ecology 68:1724-1734.
• Bond, R.R. 1957. Ecological distribution of breeding birds in the upland forests of southern Wisconsin. Ecol. Monogr. 27:351-384.
• Brewer, R., G.A. McPeek and R.J. Adams, Jr. 1991. The atlas of breeding birds of Michigan. Michigan State University Press, East Lansing.
• Crawford, H.S., R.G. Hooper and R.W. Titterington. 1981. Songbird population response to silvicultural practices in central Appalachian hardwoods. J. Wildl. Manage. 45:680-692.
• deCalesta, D.S. 1994. Effect of white-tailed deer on songbirds within managed forests in Pennsylvania. J. Wildl. Manage. 58:711-718.
• Fitzpatrick, J.W. 1980. Foraging behavior of neotropical tyrant flycatchers. Condor 82:43-57.
• Freemark, K. and B. Collins. 1992. Landscape ecology of birds breeding in temperate forest fragments. Pp. 443-454 in Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds (J.M. Hagan III and D.W. Johnston, eds.). Smithson. Inst. Press, Washington, D.C.
• Friedmann, H. 1963. Host relations of the parasitic cowbirds. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 233:1-276.
• Friedmann, H. and L.F. Kiff. 1985. The parasitic cowbirds and their hosts. Proc. West. Found. Vertebr. Zool. 2:226-304.
• Gray, L.J. 1993. Response of insectivorous birds to emerging aquatic insects in riparian habitats of a tallgrass prairie stream. Am. Midl. Nat. 129:288-300.
• Hespenheide, H.A. 1971. Flycatcher habitat selection in the eastern deciduous forest. Auk 88:61-74.
• Hilty, S.L. and W.L. Brown. 1986. A guide to the birds of Columbia. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ.
• Johnston, D.W. 1971. Niche relationships among some deciduous forest flycatchers. Auk 88:796-804.
• Kendeigh, S.C. 1944. Measurement of bird populations. Ecol. Monogr. 14:67-106.
• Kendeigh, S.C. 1948. Bird populations and biotic communities in northern lower Michigan. Ecology 29:101-114.
• Meyer de Schauensee, R. and W.H. Phelps, Jr. 1978. Birds of Venezuela. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ.
• Mossman, M.J. and K.I. Lange. 1982. Breeding birds of the Baraboo Hills. Wisconsin Dept. Nat. Resour. and Wisconsin Soc. Ornithol., Madison.
• Murray, N. and D. Stauffer. 1995. Nongame bird use of habitat in central Appalachian riparian forests. J. Wildl. Manage. 59:78-88.
• Peck, G.K. and R.D. James. 1987. Breeding birds of Ontario: nidiology and distribution. Vol. 2. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.
• Ridgely, R.S. and J.A. Gwynne, Jr. 1989. A guide to the birds of Panama, with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras. 2nd ed. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ.
• Ridgely, R.S. and G. Tudor. 1994. The birds of South America. Vol. 2. The suboscines. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.
• Robbins, C.S., D.D. Dawson and B.A. Dowell. 1989. Habitat area requirements of breeding forest birds of the Middle Atlantic States. Wildl. Monogr. 103:1-34.
• Sample, B.E., R.J. Cooper and R.C. Whitmore. 1993. Dietary shifts among songbirds from a diflubenzuron-treated forest. Condor 95:616-624.
• Sauer, J.R., J.E. Hines and J. Fallon. 2001. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966-2000. Version 2001.2, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD.
• Smith, W.J. 1988. Patterned daytime singing of the Eastern Wood-Pewee. Anim. Behav. 36:1111-1123.
• Stauffer, D.L. and L.B. Best. 1980. Habitat selection by birds of riparian communities: evaluating effects of habitat alterations. J. Wildl. Manage. 44:1-15.
• Stiles, F.G. and A.F. Skutch. 1989. Birds of Costa Rica. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, NY.
• Whitmore, R.C., R.J. Cooper and B.E. Sample. 1993. Bird fat reductions in forests treated with Dimilin. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 12:2059-2064.
• Wisconsin Society for Ornithology. 2002. Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas.