Air Date: Week of August 13, 2021

Eastern Wood-Pewee (Photo: CC BY-ND 2.0)

The Eastern Wood-Pewee is inconspicuous, but its plaintive whistle is unmistakable in the woodlands of east North America. As forests have declined so have the Pewee, and BirdNote®’s Mary McCann reports that wildlife managers are now trying to save this iconic voice.

Transcript

CURWOOD: Well one of the many animals that makes its home in the Eastern forests we’ve been hearing about is the Eastern Wood-Pewee. And as Birdnote’s Mary McCann reports the once common woodland flycatcher is now a species of concern.

http://birdnote.org/show/eastern-wood-pewee-and-eastern-deciduous-forest

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Eastern Wood-Pewee and Eastern Deciduous Forests

[Slurred, whistled “pee-ah-wee” of Eastern Wood-Pewee; repeat]

MCCANN: Each year, by mid-May, a plaintive, whistled song carries through the forests of eastern North America. It is the voice of the Eastern Wood-Pewee, returned to nest after a winter sojourn in South America.

[“Pee-ah-wee” of Eastern Wood-Pewee]

An Eastern Wood-Pewee perches inconspicuously in the shady interior of the forest. Inconspicuous, that is, until it sallies out to snatch a flying insect. Or until it offers up that unmistakable song.

[“Pee-ah-wee” of Eastern Wood-Pewee]

But for the past 25 years, the number of Eastern Wood-Pewees has fallen, across much of the bird’s range. How is it that even a once-common bird can decline so steadily? Fragmentation of forests into ever smaller tracts, as well as forest disturbance — such as heavy browsing by overabundant White-tailed Deer — are part of the problem. So is the loss of forest in the bird’s South American winter range. As a result, the Eastern Wood-Pewee is now a species of high conservation concern.

[“Pee-ah-wee” of Eastern Wood-Pewee]

What practices can help stem the decline of Eastern Wood-Pewees and other forest birds? Well, providing economic incentives for private landowners who save forests is one. Enacting policies that promote smart growth and curb urban sprawl is another.

[“Pee-ah-wee” of Eastern Wood-Pewee]
###
I’m Mary McCann.

Written by Bob Sundstrom
Call of the Eastern Wood-Pewee provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York and recorded by G.A. Keller LNS 73930. The fly was recorded by G.F. Budney. Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2010/2016 Tune In to Nature.org Narrator: Mary McCann

http://birdnote.org/show/eastern-wood-pewee-and-eastern-deciduous-forest

CURWOOD: There are pictures fled on over to the LOE website, LOE.org.

 

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