Western Wood-Pewee - Contopus sordidulus
General Description
Total length is 14 to 16 cm. Female is slightly smaller than the male. Upperparts are uniformly dark grayish brown, wings have indistinct pale wing-bars and tertial edges; underparts are dull whitish becoming dusky on breast and flanks; upper mandible dark, lower mandible paler with dark tip or all dark. (Bemis, Carrie and Rising, James D. The Birds of North America, No. 451, 1999).
Distribution
Montana Range
Observations in Montana: 3001
Montana CountiesBeaverhead, Big Horn, Blaine, Broadwater, Carbon, Carter, Cascade, Chouteau, Custer, Dawson, Deer Lodge, Fallon, Fergus, Flathead, Gallatin, Garfield, Glacier, Golden Valley, Granite, Hill, Jefferson, Judith Basin, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Liberty, Lincoln, Madison, McCone, Meagher, Mineral, Missoula, Musselshell, Park, Petroleum, Phillips, Pondera, Powder River, Powell, Prairie, Ravalli, Richland, Roosevelt, Rosebud, Sanders, Sheridan, Silver Bow, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Teton, Toole, Treasure, Valley, Wheatland, Wibaux, Yellowstone
Migration
In the Bozeman area, normal migration periods are May 30 to June 10 and August 25 to September 5 (Skaar 1969).
Habitat
Western Wood-pewee are seen wherever there are clearings or groves of deciduous trees along the river valleys (Davis 1961).
Food Habits
This species is primarily a sit-and-wait predator, sallying from open perches and usually returning to the same or nearby perch in pursuit of flying insects, especially flies, ants, bees, wasps, and beetles, moths and bugs. (Bemis and Rising 1999).
Reproductive Characteristics
Probably seasonally monogamous. Nest site may be selected by male and female together. Clutch size is 2 to 4 eggs, usually 3. (Bemis and Rising 1999). Nests with young are seen to mid-August. Nests with eggs have been seen as early as July 8 (Davis 1961). Young have been seen in the nest in mid-June on Flathead Lake.