WOOD PEWEE
(Contopus sp.)
The bird of this painting ranges from the east coast through the Mississippi Valley, where its range meets that of the western wood pewee. They are hard to tell apart visually, although the songs are quite different. Both species also look like eastern phoebes, so spotting this bird with assurance requires some study. The names of all these birds are based upon their calls, and all are flycatchers.
The pewees like groves of mixed trees, and at twilight the eastern species sings a plaintive whistled song that is longer and more varied than its daylight song. You are much more likely to see or hear these birds in outer suburbia housing areas than in the inner city or on shopping center parking lots, since they require tall trees and cannot be heard above traffic noises.
WOOD THRUSH
(Hylocichla mustelina)
This bird is at least fairly common in suburban groves all over the eastern United States. Adults are a bit over 7 inches long and their song is like a flute phrase followed by a soft trill, heard usually at dawn or dusk.
There are a number of other common thrushes. The hermit has a wide range, summering up into mid-Canada and wintering in the southern United States and Mexico. Veery, Swainson’s, and gray-cheeked thrushes are also widespread. The wood thrush is the largest and probably the most citified, at least in terms of living in woody areas near cities. It is also the only one with a heavily spotted breast.
The nest is similar to a robin’s, but without so much mud, and is usually twenty-five feet or less from the ground in a tree or shrub.