Bird
Eastern Wood-pewee
Contopus virens
A summer resident that nests in Florida. Found in all 67 counties, across 13 habitats.
- Here
- Summer and on migration
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 13

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer and on migration
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 13
- Habitat models
- Summer
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Florida 13
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.




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.
Evergreen scrub oaks, sand pine and rosemary on deep, white, drought-prone sand ridges, burned rarely but intensely; distinct from the longleaf and turkey oak sandhills.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
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 (100)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Florida. Those recorded in Florida first, the rest by region.
In Florida 1
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer.
Elsewhere in the South (54)
- 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 Brownwater River Floodplain Forest 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.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods 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.
- 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-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer.
- South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Summer.
- South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian Summer.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Summer.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest Summer.
- Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest Summer.
- Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland Summer.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest 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 (40)
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Summer.
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine 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.
- 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 Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory 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 - 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.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest 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 - Hardwood Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer.
- Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression Swamp Summer.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Summer.
Seasons in Florida
- Migratory: does not nest here, in 33 of 67 counties.
- Summer: nests here, in 40 of 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 22
- Flowering DogwoodCornus florida
- Roughleaf DogwoodCornus asperifolia
- Bitter PanicgrassPanicum amarum
- Fall Panic GrassPanicum dichotomiflorum var. dichotomiflorum
- Old-witch PanicgrassPanicum capillare
- SwitchgrassPanicum virgatum
- Wiry PanicgrassPanicum flexile
- American PokeweedPhytolacca americana
- Southern DewberryRubus trivialis
- Northern DewberryRubus flagellaris
- Pennsylvania BlackberryRubus pensilvanicus
- Sand BlackberryRubus cuneifolius
- Common ElderberrySambucus nigra subsp. canadensis
- Poison SumacToxicodendron vernix
- Atlantic Poison-oakToxicodendron pubescens
- Poison-ivyToxicodendron radicans
- SparkleberryVaccinium arboreum
- Vaccinium darrowiiVaccinium darrowii
- Vaccinium myrsinitesVaccinium myrsinites
- DeerberryVaccinium stamineum
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- Northern Highbush BlueberryVaccinium corymbosum
Plant genera in its diet records (8)
- Cornus Fruit. 2 diet records. 2 native plants in Florida
- Agathis 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Florida
- Panicum Seeds. 1 diet record. 5 native plants in Florida
- Phytolacca Fruit. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Florida
- Rubus Seeds. 1 diet record. 4 native plants in Florida
- Sambucus Fruit. 1 diet record. 1 native plant in Florida
- Toxicodendron Seeds. 1 diet record. 3 native plants in Florida
- Vaccinium Fruit. 1 diet record. 6 native plants in Florida
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Florida, 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.
Swamps
Birds 93
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
- Rose-breasted GrosbeakPheucticus ludovicianus
- Swainson's WarblerLimnothlypis swainsonii
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- White-crowned PigeonPatagioenas leucocephala
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
- Hooded WarblerWilsonia citrina
- Mangrove CuckooCoccyzus minor
Plants 353
- May HawthornCrataegus aestivalis
- Carolina AshFraxinus caroliniana
- Water HickoryCarya aquatica
- Bent SedgeCarex styloflexa
- Cypress-swamp SedgeCarex joorii
- Dark-green SedgeCarex venusta
- Ravenfoot SedgeCarex crus-corvi
- Weak Stellate SedgeCarex seorsa
- White-edge SedgeCarex debilis
- Iris hexagonaIris hexagona
- Swamp ButtercupRanunculus hispidus var. nitidus
- Drooping BulrushScirpus lineatus
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 75
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
- Swainson's WarblerLimnothlypis swainsonii
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- Scarlet TanagerPiranga olivacea
- American WoodcockScolopax minor
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
Plants 286
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- White Panicled Aster; Eastern Lined AsterSymphyotrichum lanceolatum var. latifolium
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Swamp Post OakQuercus similis
- Spruce Pine; Walters Pine; Cedar PinePinus glabra
- Blunt Broom SedgeCarex tribuloides
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Heartleaf NettleUrtica chamaedryoides
- Arnoglossum sulcatumArnoglossum sulcatum
- Gulf Sebastian-bushDitrysinia fruticosa
- American BladdernutStaphylea trifolia
Pine flatwoods
Birds 69
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
- Red-cockaded WoodpeckerPicoides borealis
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Burrowing OwlAthene cunicularia
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Crested CaracaraCaracara cheriway
- Florida Burrowing OwlAthene cunicularia floridana
- Bachman's SparrowAimophila aestivalis
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- Florida Grasshoper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum floridanus
- White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
Plants 315
- Vaccinium darrowiiVaccinium darrowii
- Vaccinium myrsinitesVaccinium myrsinites
- Chapman's CrownbeardVerbesina chapmanii
- Verbesina heterophyllaVerbesina heterophylla
- ScareweedBaptisia simplicifolia
- Florida IronweedVernonia blodgettii
- Scrubland GoldenasterChrysopsis subulata
- Telephus SpurgeEuphorbia telephioides
- Florida Sands St.john's-wortHypericum exile
- Hypericum microsepalumHypericum microsepalum
- Oclemena reticulataOclemena reticulata
- Garber's GayfeatherLiatris garberi
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





























































