TasLe 8. — Breeding populations of eastern wood pewees in various Illinois habitats. 
Nee ———ee Le !U!lUCté~* 
Type of 
Region or 
: Birds Per 
GY Bede 100 Acres gece Census County Relereaa 
Suburban residential 8 50 1914 Nest Richland (S) Ridgway 1915 
Parkland estate 100 10 1915 Nest Cook (N) Eifrig 1915 
Second growth hardwoods 15 67 1937 Nest Rock Island (N) Fawks 1937 
15 67 1938 Rock Island (N) Fawks 1938 
Upland second growth hardwoods 56 7 1941 Nest Sangamon (C) Robertson 1941 
56 7 1942 Sangamon (C) Robertson 19426 
56 7 1944 Sangamon (C) Robertson 19446 
46 4 1948 Sangamon (C) Robertson & Snyder 1§ 
Oak-maple forest 55 =—-11-72 (avg 37) 1927-1972 Nest Champaign (C) Kendeigh 1944, 1948 | 
Maple-elm forest 63 28 1950 Nest McLean (C) Calef 1953 
63 20 1951 McLean (C) 
Upland oak-hickory forest 24 21 1967 Nest Hancock (C) Franks & Martin 1967 
Unmodified woodland 27 15 1937 Nest Lake (N) Beecher 1942 
Modified woodland (human housing) 28 22 1937 Nest Lake (N) Beecher 1942 
Bottomland forest 15 38 1966 Nest Vermilion (C) Karr 1968 
Virgin floodplain forest 77 28 1948 Nest Sangamon (C) Snyder, et al. 1948 
Floodplain forest 50 24 1946 Nest Piatt (C) Fawver 19476 
Grazed bottomland woods 93 26 1955 Nest Macon (C) Chaniot & Kirby 1955 
Forest (all types including edge) 79 9 1957 Strip North Graber & Graber 1963 
98 6 1958 Strip North 
97 9 1957 Central 
117 10 1958 Central 
20 5 1907 South 
40 10 1909 South 
174 8 1957 South 
166 3 1958 South 
Late shrub 21 10 1966 Nest Vermilion (C) Karr 1968 
Shrub areas 35 6 1958 Strip Central Graber & Graber 196: 
39 2 1909 South 
67 1 1957 South 
62 5 1958 South 
@ All figures were converted to read birds per 100 acres (territorial males or nests x2)5 
(Q. velutina), and post oak (Q. stellata). Most of the 
others were in maples, including sugar maple (18 
percent), elms (15 percent), and willows (11 percent). 
Pewee nests are usually placed fairly high. Illinois nests 
have ranged form 9 feet to about 50 feet and averaged 25 
feet in height. 
In southern Illinois Brewer (1958) found no 
significant numbers of pewees in stands of trees less than 
2] years old in strip-mined areas. We see no indication 
that pewees still nest in orchards as they apparently did in 
Ridgway’s (1887) time. We also suspect that the pewees 
found in shrub areas (Table 8) are foraging, and not 
nesting birds. Pewees also nest in towns, as Hess (1910), 
Gates (1911), and Ford (1931) stated, but urban 
populations have not been measured and we suspect that 
they are very low. Ridgway’s (1915) density figure for a 
suburban population (50 wood pewees per 100 acres) in 
Olney, Illinois is probably exaggerated because of the 
small acreage censused. The density values for small 
census areas (especially under 20 acres) tend to be high 
regardless of the habitat (Table 8). 
Territories of wood pewees in lowland forest 
measured by Fawver (19476) and Calef (1953) in central 
Illinois ranged from 1.4 to 3.1 acres and averaged 2.9 
acres (1946), 1.9 acres (1950), and 2.7 acres (1951), with 
territories being smaller in years of higher populations 
and larger with lower population densities. Twomey’s 
50 
(1945) measurments of territories were apparently bz 
on a different interpretation of the territory, for he g 
figures of about 6 acres (1934) and 8 acres (1935). — 
Nesting Cycle 
Eastern wood pewees probably sing regularly du: 
their spring migration, and they arrive in Illinois sing 
The common song is unmistakable: a clear, plaint 
wiry whistle — “p-e-e-e- a- wee,” long and drawn ' 
with major emphasis on the first syllable (Ridgway 18 
Nice (1961) pointed out that the pewee has at least 
other song forms, a two-syllable “peee-oh,” or “peee: 
which we have often heard also, and a more com 
“twilight” song which we have never heard. Ridg 
(1889) also refers to a twittering sound that the pt 
utters. Eastern wood pewees sing almost throughout 
day (Nice 1961). 
When and where pair-formation of pewees ¢ 
place we do not know, but in some instances the | 
seem to be formed almost as soon as (or perhaps | 
before) the birds arrive on their nesting areas. Sill 
(unpublished notes, 1921) observed a pair in Peorl, 
May 5, which is close to the early arrival date (Fig. 43 
central Illinois Fawver (1947a) observed Pe 
establishing territories in mid-May. The process invc 
some rigorous fighting among the pewees. | 
The nest, with rare exception as noted by G 
