Birdfinding.info ⇒ Most easily found at Hardwar Gap, Ecclesdown Road, and other sites in the Port Royal, Blue, and John Crow Mountains. Also readily found in much of Cockpit Country, including Stewart Town.
Jamaican Pewee
Contopus pallidus
Family: Tyrannidae
Endemic to Jamaica, where it is locally common in humid montane and foothill forests the length of the island. Occurs uncommonly or sporadically down to sea level and in drier woodlands.
Identification
A small, nondescript, drab, olive-gray flycatcher with no noticeable facial markings. Sometimes shows distinct wingbars; sometimes not.
Proportionately short-winged and long-tailed, with a plump body and big head.
Bill is fairly long; lower mandible orange.
Jamaican Pewee, showing brownish plumage and lacking distinct wingbars. (Stewart Town, Jamaica; June 28, 2017.) © Rob Van Epps
Jamaican Pewee, showing olive upperparts and lacking distinct wingbars. (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; January 31, 2016.) © Carla Bergman
Jamaican Pewee, showing generally gray plumage and distinct wingbars. (Silver Hill Gap, Jamaica; February 27, 2012.) © Kurt Hennige
Jamaican Pewee, showing contrastingly whitish throat and bright orange lower mandible. (Silver Hill Gap, Jamaica; February 1, 2019.) © Yeray Seminario
Jamaican Pewee, ventral view, showing spade-shaped bill and orange lower mandible. (Jamaica; May 1, 2013.) © William Price
Jamaican Pewee, showing generally olive plumage and faint wingbars. (Ecclesdown Road, Jamaica; March 20, 2018.) © Graham Ekins
Jamaican Pewee, showing generally cold-brown plumage and distinct wingbars. (Silver Hill Gap, Jamaica; April 27, 2016.) © Frank Mantlik
Jamaican Pewee, showing generally buffy-brown plumage. (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; January 29, 2019.) © Alain Sylvain
Jamaican Pewee, showing faint wingbars and notched tail. (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; January 29, 2019.) © Matthew Grube
Jamaican Pewee, showing gray upperparts, whitish underparts, and faint wingbars. (Silver Hill Gap, Jamaica; February 27, 2012.) © Kurt Hennige
Cf. Large Jamaican Elaenia. Jamaican Pewee is easily confused with Large Jamaican Elaenia under suboptimal field conditions. The elaenia has stronger wing-bars and different proportions: comparatively large body, small head, and short bill.
Cf. Migrant Flycatchers. Jamaican Pewee is potentially mistaken for some North American migrant species that are very rarely recorded from Jamaica, such as Eastern Wood-Pewee and certain Empidonax flycatchers.
Notes
Monotypic species.
References
eBird. 2019. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed February 18, 2019.)
Farnsworth, A., and D. Lebbin. 2017. Jamaican Pewee (Contopus pallidus). In Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D.A. Christie and E. de Juana, eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. http://www.hbw.com/node/57373. (Accessed October 26, 2017.)
Haynes-Sutton, A., A. Downer, R. Sutton, and Y.-J. Rey-Millet. 2009. A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.