Western Wood-Pewee Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesWestern Wood-Pewee
Medium-sized grayish flycatcher with a peaked crown and 2 wingbars. Note long wings and upright posture.
© Brian Peterson / Macaulay LibraryNebraska, May 27, 2017Medium-sized grayish flycatcher with a peaked head, a gray vest, and 2 wingbars.
© Matt Davis / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, August 15, 2020Typically hunts insects from an exposed perch, flies out to catch them, and then returns to the same or a nearby perch.
© Jay McGowan / Macaulay LibraryMontana, June 21, 2015Not all videos have sound
Grayish flycatcher with a gray vest and 2 wingbars.
© Nate Gowan / Macaulay LibraryNew Mexico, July 25, 2017Medium-sized grayish flycatcher with a peaked crown and 2 wingbars. Note long wings and upright posture.
© Evan Lipton / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, August 30, 2020Note dusky "vest," long primary feathers in the folded wing, and lack of eyering.
© Larry Arbanas / Macaulay LibraryArizona, May 16, 2006Not all videos have sound
Often perches upright in the canopy and repeatedly returns to the same or a nearby perch.
© Deb Ford / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, June 09, 2017Whacks prey against its perch either to kill it or to break off wings or other indigestible parts.
© Larry Arbanas / Macaulay LibrarySonora, May 18, 2006Not all videos have sound
The female builds a compact nest on top of a branch using grasses, and other plant fibers bound with spiderweb, then camouflages the outside with mosses, bud scales, and insect skins.
© Larry Arbanas / Macaulay LibraryArizona, May 01, 2006Not all videos have sound
Similar SpeciesWillow Flycatcher
Willow Flycatchers have wider and whiter wingbars and a more greenish-olive cast than Western Wood-Pewees. They also have shorter wings and do not tend to sally to and from the same perch like wood-pewees do.
© Michiel Oversteegen / Macaulay LibraryAruba, October 16, 2016Similar SpeciesDusky Flycatcher
Dusky Flycatchers have a distinct eyering that Western Wood-Pewees lack, a rounded (not peaked) head, and a shorter bill compared to a pewee. Does not tend to sally to and from the same perch like wood-pewees do.
© Matt Davis / Macaulay LibraryNevada, June 07, 2016Similar SpeciesOlive-sided Flycatcher
Olive-sided Flycatchers are larger than Western Wood-Pewees with a more distinct and well-delineated dark vest, contrasting strongly with a white center.
© Mike V.A. Burrell / Macaulay LibraryOntario, May 24, 2013Similar SpeciesEastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Wood-Pewees look nearly identical to Western Wood-Pewees, but breeding ranges hardly overlap and their calls are different, which is the best way to separate them.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryOrange Walk, May 11, 2017Similar SpeciesWestern Flycatcher
Pacific-slope Flycatchers have a teardrop-shaped eyering not seen on Western Wood-Pewees and are more greenish-olive with a yellowish chest.
© Jonathan Vargas / Macaulay LibraryNayarit, December 29, 2016Similar SpeciesWestern Flycatcher
Cordilleran Flycatchers have a teardrop-shaped eyering not seen on Western Wood-Pewees and are more greenish-olive with a yellowish chest.
© Adam Dudley / Macaulay LibraryNevada, June 01, 2017Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
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Species in This Family
Tyrant Flycatchers(Order: Passeriformes, Family: Tyrannidae)
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