The Eastern Wood-Pewee has experienced a documented decline in its breeding population over the past century. Breeding Bird Surveys indicate a significant, survey-wide decline of 35.6% between 1966 and 1993 [Price et al. 1995]. Even as early as the 1940s, Tyler [in Bent 1942] observed a noticeable decrease in the Eastern Wood-Pewee’s population in the 20 years prior to the publication of his account. This pewee ranges in summer over the eastern half of the U.S. and southern Canada, with the exception of southern Florida and Texas [McCarty 1996 (BNA)]. It occurs in a wide variety of forest types [McCarty 1996 (BNA)], although it prefers deciduous forests that have little understory [DeGraaf and Rappole 1995]. Pewees are often associated with forest clearings and may even breed in suburban areas and along roadsides [McCarty 1996 (BNA)]. These birds are almost entirely insectivorous [Terborgh 1989] and typically quite inconspicuous [McCarty 1996 (BNA)]. Long distance migrants, Eastern Wood-Pewees winter in northern South America, where they establish and defend individual territories [Terborgh 1989].
In the spring they migrate northward through Central America and Mexico, occasionally passing through the western Caribbean [DeGraaf and Rappole 1995, McCarty 1996]. Pewees are one of the latest spring migrants, sometimes arriving on their breeding grounds when neighboring species have already hatched young [Bent 1942]. Their peak arrival in the southern U.S. occurs from late April to early May, and they migrate northward across the central and eastern U.S. [McCarty 1996 (BNA)]. Pewees typically arrive in Massachusetts in mid- to late May [Veit and Petersen 1993].
In fall, pewees appear to use a similar route to that used in the spring [McCarty 1996 (BNA)]. However, they are less common as migrants in Massachusetts in the fall than the spring [Veit and Petersen 1993]. They begin departing their northernmost breeding areas in mid- to late August, but do not reach a migratory peak until early or mid-September [McCarty 1996 (BNA)]. Pewees generally migrate through Massachusetts between late August and mid-October [Veit and Petersen 1993]. They are quite uncommon in their breeding range after late October or early November [McCarty 1996 (BNA)]. Little is known about Eastern Wood-Pewee migratory behavior, but it is believed (from bird kills at TV towers) that migration may be principally nocturnal [McCarty 1996 (BNA)]. During migration, pewees can be found in a variety of woody habitats, from shrubby areas to primary tropical forests [McCarty 1996 (BNA)].
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