Tropical Pewee
A species of Pewees Scientific name : Contopus cinereus Genus : Pewees
Tropical Pewee, A species of Pewees
Botanical name: Contopus cinereus
Genus: Pewees
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Dario Sanches , used under CC-BY-SA-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Description
The tropical pewee or southern tropical pewee (Contopus cinereus) is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. It breeds from southern Mexico and Trinidad south to Bolivia and Argentina. The taxon punensis, found in south-western Ecuador and western Peru, is usually included as a subspecies of the tropical pewee, but it has been suggested it should be considered a separate species, the Tumbes pewee (Contopus punensis) . This pewee is found at the edges of forests and cultivated areas with tall trees. The nest is a small open saucer of fibre and grasses, lined with grass and decorated with lichen on its exterior. It is placed in a tree fork or on a branch. The female builds the nest and incubates the typical clutch of two creamy-white eggs, which are marked with red-brown spots at the larger end, for 15–16 days to hatching. The tropical pewee is 14 cm long and weighs 12 g. The upperparts are dark brown or grey with a blackish crown and two whitish wing bars. The throat and centre of the breast are whitish, the abdomen is pale yellow, and the sides of the flanks and breast are grey-brown. There are large variation in the overall darkness of the plumage, and especially the nominate subspecies from south-eastern Brazil and adjacent parts of Paraguay and Argentina can be very dark, almost approaching the blackish pewee in colour. The beak is short, with a black upper mandible and orange lower mandible. Sexes are similar. Tropical pewees perch on a high watchpoint from which they sally forth to catch flying insects, returning to the same exposed perch. This is a conspicuous species, with a trilled threeee call, or a sharp weet. There are, however, some geographical variations in its voice. It will defend the nest aggressively against species as large as a great kiskadee.
Size
15 cm
Feeding Habits
Tropical Pewee primarily consumes flying insects, capturing prey in mid-air with agile flight maneuvers. Preferring dawn and dusk for foraging, tropical Pewee exhibits unique aerial hunting techniques to snatch various insects, showcasing specialized dietary adaptations for insectivory.
Habitat
The tropical Pewee favors a variety of wooded habitats including subtropical and tropical environments such as dry and moist lowland forests, mangrove vegetation areas, moist montane forests, dry shrublands, and even areas with heavily degraded former forests. Adapted to both natural and human-altered landscapes, tropical Pewee can be found in secondary woodlands, plantations, and forest borders, particularly in semi-open regions. This species typically resides at elevations up to 1,300 meters, though it has been observed at higher elevations in certain parts of its range, reaching up to 2,000 meters in northwest Argentina and 2,850 meters in Bolivia.
Dite type
Insectivorous
General Info
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Photo By Dario Sanches , used under CC-BY-SA-2.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Tyrant flycatchers Genus
Pewees Species
Tropical Pewee