mountainpath2001
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)
One potential cause of the decline of Eastern Wood-Pewee populations is the overpopulation of white-tailed deer in the Eastern forests. In areas with high deer density, the intermediate canopy is disturbed by browsing, affecting the foraging space of the flycatcher.
The Eastern and Western wood-pewees are very difficult to tell apart
visually. Their breeding ranges overlap only in a very narrow zone in
the Great Plains. Despite their similarity, no evidence has ever been
found that the two species interbreed in that area.
Distinguished from Empidonax flycatchers by weak, broken eyering and dirty smudging under tail. (Cornell, All About Birds)
f/5.6, iso 640, 1/2500. 5/26/08.
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)
One potential cause of the decline of Eastern Wood-Pewee populations is the overpopulation of white-tailed deer in the Eastern forests. In areas with high deer density, the intermediate canopy is disturbed by browsing, affecting the foraging space of the flycatcher.
The Eastern and Western wood-pewees are very difficult to tell apart
visually. Their breeding ranges overlap only in a very narrow zone in
the Great Plains. Despite their similarity, no evidence has ever been
found that the two species interbreed in that area.
Distinguished from Empidonax flycatchers by weak, broken eyering and dirty smudging under tail. (Cornell, All About Birds)
f/5.6, iso 640, 1/2500. 5/26/08.