- Contopus cinereus
Includes: Tumbes Pewee
Identification
14 cm
- Dark brown upperparts
- Black crown
- Two white wing bars
- White throat and centre of the breast
- Pale yellow belly
- Greyish-brown sides of the flanks and breast
- Short bill: black upper mandible; orange lower mandible
Sexes similar
Distribution
Central and South America
Central America: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Trinidad
South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 8 subspecies[1]
- C. c. brachytarsus (Short-legged):
- C. c. rhizophorus:
- Arid Pacific littoral of western Costa Rica (Guanacaste)
- C. c. aithalodes:
- Isla Coiba (Panama)
- C. c. bogotensis:
- C. c. surinamensis:
- Southern Venezuela to the Guianas and north-eastern Brazil
- C. c. pallescens:
- C. c. cinereus:
- South-eastern Brazil (Bahia to Paraná) to eastern Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina
- C. c. punensis:
- Andes of Ecuador and northern Peru (south to Junín)
- Split by Gill and Donsker (2010) as Tumbes Pewee C. punensis
Habitat
Mountain semi-deciduous forests and clearings. Mixed pasture, wet fields and gardens.
Behaviour
Breeding
The female builds a small open saucer nest of fibre and grasses, lined with grass and decorated with lichen on its exterior. Two creamy-white eggs, marked with red-brown spots, are incubated by the female for 15-16 days.
Diet
The diet includes insects.
References
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2010. IOC World Bird Names (version 2.7). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
- Avibase
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Southern Tropical Pewee. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 February 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Southern_Tropical_Pewee
