Eastern Wood-Pewee Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesEastern Wood-Pewee
Medium-sized grayish flycatcher with a peaked head and 2 wingbars. Note long wings and tail.
© John Deitsch / Macaulay LibraryGeorgia, April 27, 2018© Daniel Irons / Macaulay LibraryMaryland, September 11, 2017
From the front, looks like it's wearing a gray or dusky vest.
© Corey Callaghan / Macaulay LibraryFlorida, April 30, 2015Long, thin flycatcher that perches upright in the canopy.
© Mary Keleher / Macaulay LibraryMassachusetts, May 24, 2014Perches upright in the canopy where it flycatches for insects and repeatedly returns to the same or similar perch.
© Paul Waton / Macaulay LibraryFlorida, October 14, 2020Similar SpeciesWillow Flycatcher
Adult/immature
Willow Flycatchers have greener heads and upperparts, paler sides, and wider and whiter wing bars (at least in adults) than Eastern Wood-Pewees. They do not tend to sally and return to the same perch like pewees.
© Michiel Oversteegen / Macaulay LibraryAruba, October 16, 2016Similar SpeciesAcadian Flycatcher
Adult/immature
Acadian Flycatchers usually have an obvious white eyering that Eastern Wood-Pewees do not have and they have a paler belly.
© Edward Plumer / Macaulay LibraryTexas, April 15, 2016Similar SpeciesEastern Phoebe
Adult/immature
Eastern Phoebes have darker brown upperparts and no wingbars while Eastern Wood-Pewees are grayer with grayish wingbars. Their underparts tend to be cleaner white, without a vested look.
© Epi Shemming / Macaulay LibraryOntario, May 22, 2017Similar SpeciesOlive-sided Flycatcher
Adult
Olive-sided Flycatchers are larger, with a larger head and a thicker and longer bill than Eastern Wood-Pewees.
© Mike V.A. Burrell / Macaulay LibraryOntario, May 24, 2013Similar SpeciesWestern Wood-Pewee
Adult/immature
Western Wood-Pewees look nearly identical to Eastern Wood-Pewees, but their breeding ranges hardly overlap and their calls are different, the best way to separate them.
© Brian Hoffe / Macaulay LibraryAlberta, June 19, 2017Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
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Species in This Family
Tyrant Flycatchers(Order: Passeriformes, Family: Tyrannidae)
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