Greater Pewee

Table

Greater Pewee – Accepted
1. 04 Oct 1952	Red Hill, Salton Sea IMP	1987-354	14	ph., SBCM M1907
2. 29 Sep 1965	Brock Research Center IMP	1986-007	10	ph., LACM 60645
3. 31 Dec 1967–10 Apr 1968	Griffith Park LA	1986-124	11
4. 27–29 Dec 1968	Monterey MTY	1977-157	4	ph., Roberson (1980, 2002)
5. 28 Oct 1972–17 Feb 1973	Brock Research Center IMP	1973-011	2
6. 20 Jan–25 Mar 1974	San Diego SD	1974-046	3
7. 15 Nov–31 Dec 1974	Pacific Palisades LA	1976-091	3
8. 06 Dec 1975–18 Feb 1976	New Brighton State Beach SCZ	1976-005	3	ph.
9. 03 Jan–10 Mar 1976	Oceanside SD	1976-090	3
10. 09–23 Feb 1976	Balboa Park SD	1980-136	6
11. 18–21 Dec 1977	Peters Canyon ORA	1978-028	4
12. 24 Dec 1977–19 Mar 1978	Parker Dam SBE	1978-021	4	ph., AB 32:400, Roberson (1980)
and 25 Nov 1978–01 Mar 1979		1978-129	4,5
13. 07 Nov 1979–30 Jan 1980	Griffith Park LA	1980-019	6
and 03 Nov 1980–23 Feb 1981	*	2004-602	6,30
and 13 Jan–20 Feb 1982		1980-019	6
and 31 Oct 1982–16 Feb 1983		1983-088	9
and 10 Nov 1983–23 Mar 1984		1983-088	9	ph.
14. 28–29 Nov 1979	Blythe RIV	1988-083	14	ph.
15. 09 Jan–19 Mar 1980	Leo Carillo State Beach LA	1980-020	6
16. 26 Sep 1982	Montaña de Oro State Park SLO	1983-026	8
17. 22 Dec 1983	vic. Earp SBE	1986-090	12
18. 06–07 Oct 1984	Pt. Loma SD	1985-052	10	ph.
19. 10 Nov 1984–14 Apr 1985	San Diego SD	1984-277	10
20. 10 Nov 1984–10 Mar 1985	Montecito SBA	1984-265	10
and 28 Dec 1985		1986-189	12
21. 23 Dec 1984–07 Mar 1985	Union City ALA	1985-026	10	ph.
22. 21 Dec 1985–26 Jan 1986	Balboa Park SD	1986-025	11	ph., see records not submitted
23. 20 Feb–30 Mar 1988	Balboa Park SD	1988-092	13
and 06 Dec 1988–01 Mar 1989		1989-005	13
and 16 Dec 1989–01 Mar 1990		1990-012	15
and 07 Nov 1991–29 Mar 1992		1992-063	17	see records not submitted
24. 10–16 Dec 1989	Malibu LA	1990-008	15	ph.
25. 10–13 Feb 1991	Peters Canyon ORA	1991-020	16	ph.
26. 11 Sep 1991	Huntington Beach ORA	1991-201	17
27. 14 Sep 1991	Newport Beach ORA	1991-202	17
28. 14 Dec 1991–14 Feb 1992	San Diego SD	1992-107	17
and 07–21 Jan 1995		1995-016	21
29. 19 Dec 1992–03 Jan 1993	Tijuana R. valley SD	1993-004	18
30. 09 Oct 1994	Whittier LA	1994-156	20
31. 21 Jan–21 Feb 1995	Saticoy VEN	1995-039	22
32. 30 Dec 1995–01 Jan 1996	San Pasqual Valley SD	2003-090	29
33. 20 Jan 1998	Brock Research Center IMP	2001-053	28	audio
and 24 Dec 1998–27 Feb 1999		1999-043	24	Fig. 337, ph., NAB 53:221
34. 19 Dec 1999–19 Jan 2000	Chesebro Canyon LA	2000-026	25	ph.
35. 02 Dec 2000	Bonsall SD	2001-010	26
36. 01 Dec 2001–28 Feb 2002	Pomona LA	2001-209	27
Greater Pewee – Not accepted, identification not established
19 Sep 1992	Big Sur R. mouth MTY	1992-307	18
19 Sep–07 Nov 1993	San Diego SD	1994-061	22
28 May 1995	Agua Dulce SD	1995-090	21
29 May 1995	Salton Sea NWR IMP	1995-064	21
01 May 1997	San Elijo Lagoon SD	1997-116	23
03 May 1997	Brawley IMP	1997-115	23
01 Jun 1998	Southeast Farallon I. SF	1998-116	24	ph., Erickson & Hamilton (2001)
15 Apr 2001	Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park MTY	2001-075	27
Greater Pewee – Not submitted
13 Jun 1967	Thousand Palms Oasis RIV			AFN 21:605
winter 1967/1968	Imperial Dam IMP		14	AFN 22:479
19 Dec 1975	Riverside RIV		14	AFN 30:768, Garrett & Dunn (1981)
23 Nov 1986–28 Mar 1987	Balboa Park SD			AB 41:331, 489, 1281; see table entries 22-23
18 Oct 1990–29 Mar 1991	Balboa Park SD			AB 45:152, 497; see table entry 23
26 Sep 1994	Balboa Park SD			FN 49:101

Figures

Figure 337. This Greater Pewee—photographed on 8 February 1999 at the Brock Research Center in Imperial County—furnished one of relatively few records of this species from the state’s interior. Useful field marks include an obvious crest, a faint “vest,” and a uniformly pale mandible that is partially obscured by shadow in this view. That it was an adult is supported by rectrix shape, and by the fact that a Greater Pewee was recorded at the same location during the previous winter (1999-043; Kenneth Z. Kurland).

Figure 338. Seasonal occurrence of the Greater Pewee in California. Records are plotted by all dates of occurrence. This flycatcher occurs primarily as a wintering species, with a few records of early fall transients. It was not certainly recorded as a spring or summer vagrant until after this book’s cutoff date (see Appendix H).

Greater Pewee

GREATER PEWEE Contopus pertinax (d’Orbigny and Lafresnaye, 1837)

Accepted: 36 (82%)	Treated in Appendix H: yes
Not accepted: 8	CBRC review: all records
Not submitted/reviewed: 6	Color image: page H-24

This flycatcher ranges from central Arizona and southwestern New Mexico south through central Mexico to Nicaragua. Migratory C. p. pallidiventris breeds in the United States and northern Mexico and winters south to Oaxaca (Howell and Webb 1995); darker C. p. minor is resident in northern Central America. The species is a casual vagrant in western Texas, including a 2002 nesting record from the Davis Mts., and is considered accidental in central and southern Texas (Lockwood and Freeman 2004). Baja California’s first was photographed in Mexicali on 27 January 2004 (NAB 58:286–287).

California’s first Greater Pewee was a fall vagrant collected on 4 October 1952 at the mouth of the Alamo River, located at the south end of the Salton Sea in Imperial County (Cardiff and Cardiff 1953). The specimen—referable to pallidiventris, as is the state’s only other specimen—is a life mount currently on public display at the San Bernardino County Museum.

Like many species from Mexico and Arizona (e.g., the Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Thick-billed Kingbird, and Painted Redstart), the Greater Pewee is primarily a late fall and winter vagrant to California. The records span the period from 11 September to 14 April (Figure 338). Four out of every five (29 of 36) have been found in coastal counties, and only three birds have been found from Monterey County northward. In California, individuals have returned to the same location for as many as five consecutive winters.

The Committee has not endorsed any records of spring transients or summering birds, although an individual photographed at Southeast Farallon Island on 1 June 1998 may well have been correctly identified (see Erickson and Hamilton 2001). See also Appendix H.