Bird
Eastern Wood-pewee
Contopus virens
A summer resident that nests in Alabama. Found in all 67 counties, across 14 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 14

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 14
- Habitat models
- Summer
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Alabama 14
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.



Streams, rivers and their banks


Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.
Disturbed and introduced wetlands
Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Other habitats in its models (91)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama. Those recorded in Alabama first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (50)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Summer.
- Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest Summer.
- Central and Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Central and Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forest Summer.
- Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Floodplain Forest Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Summer.
- East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer.
- Edwards Plateau Dry-Mesic Slope Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Summer.
- Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Summer.
- Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer.
- Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Summer.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer.
- Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Summer.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Summer.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Summer.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Summer.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Summer.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest Summer.
- Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Summer.
Northeast (5)
- Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Summer.
- Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Summer.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Summer.
Land cover and other classes (36)
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Summer.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Summer.
- Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Developed, Low Intensity Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Summer.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Summer.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Summer.
- Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Summer.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Summer.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer.
Seasons in Alabama
- Summer: nests here, in all 67 counties.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 34
- Flowering DogwoodCornus florida
- Stiff DogwoodCornus stricta
- Rough Leaf DogwoodCornus drummondii
- Roughleaf DogwoodCornus asperifolia
- Panicum amarum var. amarulumPanicum amarum var. amarulum
- Panicum amarum var. amarumPanicum amarum var. amarum
- Fall PanicgrassPanicum dichotomiflorum
- Old-witch PanicgrassPanicum capillare
- SwitchgrassPanicum virgatum
- Wiry PanicgrassPanicum flexile
- American PokeweedPhytolacca americana
- Maritime PokeweedPhytolacca rigida
- Black RaspberryRubus occidentalis
- Southern DewberryRubus trivialis
- Allegheny BlackberryRubus allegheniensis
- Northern DewberryRubus flagellaris
- Pennsylvania BlackberryRubus pensilvanicus
- Sand BlackberryRubus cuneifolius
- Swamp DewberryRubus hispidus
- Common ElderberrySambucus canadensis
- Poison SumacToxicodendron vernix
- Atlantic Poison-oakToxicodendron pubescens
- Poison-ivyToxicodendron radicans
- SparkleberryVaccinium arboreum
Plant genera in its diet records (8)
- Cornus Fruit. 2 diet records. 4 native plants in Alabama
- Agathis 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Alabama
- Panicum Seeds. 1 diet record. 6 native plants in Alabama
- Phytolacca Fruit. 1 diet record. 2 native plants in Alabama
- Rubus Seeds. 1 diet record. 7 native plants in Alabama
- Sambucus Fruit. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Alabama
- Toxicodendron Seeds. 1 diet record. 3 native plants in Alabama
- Vaccinium Fruit. 1 diet record. 11 native plants in Alabama
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Alabama, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Dry forests and woodlands
Birds 65
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Red-cockaded WoodpeckerPicoides borealis
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Bachman's SparrowAimophila aestivalis
Plants 224
- Chestnut OakQuercus montana
- Georgia OakQuercus georgiana
- American ChestnutCastanea dentata
- Boynton's OakQuercus boyntonii
- White ThoroughwortEupatorium album
- Sessileleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium sessilifolium
- Painted SedgeCarex picta
- Ernests SpiderwortTradescantia ernestiana
- Leavenworth's SedgeCarex leavenworthii
- Southern Whitetinge SedgeCarex albicans var. australis
- Southern LoosestrifeSteironema tonsa
- Alabama SkullcapScutellaria alabamensis
Swamps
Birds 86
- Eurasian WigeonAnas penelope
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpres
- Magnolia WarblerDendroica magnolia
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Reddish EgretEgretta rufescens
- Tricolored HeronEgretta tricolor
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- RedheadAythya americana
Plants 327
- Black Highbush BlueberryVaccinium fuscatum
- Dahoon HollyIlex cassine
- May HawthornCrataegus aestivalis
- Carolina AshFraxinus caroliniana
- Dense-flower SmartweedPersicaria densiflora
- Swamp TupeloNyssa biflora
- Water HickoryCarya aquatica
- Bent SedgeCarex styloflexa
- Collins's SedgeCarex collinsii
- Cypress-swamp SedgeCarex joorii
- Dark-green SedgeCarex venusta
- Fringed SedgeCarex crinita
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 88
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- Magnolia WarblerDendroica magnolia
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- American WoodcockScolopax minor
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
Plants 418
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- White Panicled Aster; Eastern Lined AsterSymphyotrichum lanceolatum var. latifolium
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Appalachian Orange ConeflowerRudbeckia umbrosa
- Rudbeckia fulgida var. spathulataRudbeckia spathulata
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Southern Shagbark HickoryCarya carolinae-septentrionalis
- Spruce Pine; Walters Pine; Cedar PinePinus glabra
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP summer habitat model for Eastern Wood-pewee
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus





































































