The Lesser Antillean pewee (''Contopus latirostris'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Tyrannidae The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) comprise a Family (biology), family of passerine birds which is found virtually throughout North America, North and South America. It is the world's largest family of birds, with more than 400 species, and is ...

, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, and

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

. There are also scattered records on

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

.Cole, K. K. (2020). Lesser Antillean Pewee (''Contopus latirostris''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.leapew1.01 retrieved April 13, 2025

Taxonomy and systematics

Worldwide and regional taxonomic systems assign the Lesser Antillean pewee three subspecies, the

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In th ...

''C. l. latirostris'' ( Verreaux, 1866), ''C. l. blancoi'' (

Cabanis Cabanis is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernard Cabanis (born 1950), French ice hockey player * George Cabanis (1815–1892), American politician * James Cabanis (1838–1920), American politician, son of George Cabanis *Jea ...

, 1875), and ''C. l. brunneicapillus'' (

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, 1878).Clements, J. F., P.C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2024. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2024. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved October 23, 2024HBW and BirdLife International (2024). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 9. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/about-our-science/taxonomy retrieved December 23, 2024 However, some authors have treated each as a separate species. Some of them call ''C. l. latirostris'' the Saint Lucia pewee (''C. oberi'') and ''C. l. blancoi'' the Puerto Rican pewee (''C. portoricensis''). The

Clements taxonomy ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world. The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 202 ...

recognizes one species but within it highlights the nominate subspecies as the "Lesser Antillean pewee (St. Lucia)", ''C. l. blancoi'' as the "Lesser Antillean pewee (Puerto Rico)", and ''C. l. brunneicapillus'' as the "Lesser Antillean pewee (Lesser Antilles)".

Description

All three subspecies of the Lesser Antillean pewee are about long. Within each subspecies the sexes are alike. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dark sooty brown crown, an olive-brown face with a fulvous tinge, and olive-brown upperparts with a cinnamon tinge on the rump and uppertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...

. Their tail is dark grayish brown with pale grayish brown or buffy tips on the feathers and light grayish brown on the feather edges. Their wings are mostly dusky with pale cinnamon buff or grayish buff edges on the secondaries. Their underparts are cinnamon tawny or dull tawny ochraceous. They have a brown iris, a horn brown

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

, a whitish

mandible In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

, and dusky brown legs and feet. Adults of subspecies ''C. l. blancoi'' have a dark sooty olive to sooty blackish crown, deep olive head and upperparts, and a dusky grayish brown tail with some olive on the feather edges. Their wings are mostly dusky with thin paler edges near the tips of the

and pale brownish buff edges on the secondaries. Their underparts are mostly deep brownish buff with paler undertail coverts and a dark olive shade on the breast and sides. They have a brown iris, a brownish black or blackish brown

, a pale

usually with a dusky tip, and dusky brown or blackish legs and feet. Adults of subspecies ''C. l. brunneicapillus'' have a dark sooty brown to sooty black crown and a dark brownish olive to olive-brown face and upperparts with a paler and browner rump and uppertail

. Their tail is deep grayish brown with pale grayish brown or olive on the outer webs of the feathers. Their wings are mostly dusky with grayish brown or olive tips on the coverts and pale brownish buffy edges on the secondaries. Their chin and throat are buffy white or buffy grayish white and their underparts mostly brownish buffy with a strong grayish olive cast on the breast and sides. They have a brown iris, a dusky brown

, a pale

usually with a dusky tip, and dusky brown or brownish black legs and feet.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of the Lesser Antillean pewee is found on St. Lucia, where it primarily inhabits

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

. Subspecies ''C. l. blancoi'' is found on Puerto Rico, though it is rare in the eastern third of the island. It also primarily inhabits montane forest. Both are also found in lower elevation forest, wooded hills, and coffee plantations and locally in semi-arid scrublands and coastal mangroves. ''C. l. brunneicapillus'' is found on Guadeloupe, Dominica, and Martinique. There it inhabits the same variety of habitat but does not appear to favor any particular one. The species is found in the tropical zone from sea level to about of elevation. The species also is recorded occasionally in the mountains of St. Kitts but it is not known if they are

vagrants Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

or remnants of a formerly more robust population.

Behavior

Movement

The Lesser Antillean pewee is a year-round resident.

Feeding

The Lesser Antillean pewee feeds mostly on insects and includes a small amount of fruit in its diet. It sits erect on a perch low to the ground, usually at the edge of an open area within forest, and captures prey in mid-air with sallies from it (" hawking"). It has been observed following

mixed-species feeding flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

s in montane forest.

Breeding

The Lesser Antillean pewee breeds from March to June. Its nest is an open cup made from mosses, lichen, leaves, and other fine plant material. It typically has pieces of bark on the outside and is built on twigs. The clutch is two eggs that are cream with dark reddish-brown spots. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.

Vocalization

The Lesser Antillean pewee's vocalizations are "an emphatic ''pree-e-e'', or a high-pitched ''peet-peet-peet-peet-peet''.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the Lesser Antillean pewee as being of Least Concern. Its population size is not known and is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. "Lesser Antillean Pewee has been recorded in both wet and dry wooded and scrub habitats, so maintaining a diverse range of habitat is important for this species."