Deadline for comment on the proposed management plan for the Eastern Wood-pewee

Environment and Climate Change Canada is inviting you to comment on the Management Plan for the Eastern Wood-pewee (Contopus virens) in Canada [proposed].


The Eastern Wood-pewee was listed as Special Concern under Schedule 1 of the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) in 2017. The Eastern Wood-pewee is a small songbird in the flycatcher family. Adults have olive-grey plumage and a pale breast, belly, and wing-bars; they lack an eye-ring. Juvenile plumage is darker and browner with yellower underparts. In Canada, the breeding range of the Eastern Wood-pewee extends from southeastern Saskatchewan to the Maritime provinces. During its migration, the Eastern Wood-pewee crosses Central America and winters in the lowland tropical forests of northwestern South America. The species is generally more abundant in large forest patches and prefers open forests with a high canopy, or forest habitat close to a clearing or woodland edge. Primary threats to the Eastern Wood-pewee include agricultural development resulting in habitat loss or reduced availability or quality of insect prey, ecosystem modifications resulting in decreased habitat availability, and forestry practices that do not support the retention of mature trees.


On July 13, 2023, Environment and Climate Change Canada posted the proposed Management Plan for the Eastern Wood-pewee (Contopus virens) in Canada on the Species at Risk Public Registry. A management plan is a planning document that sets goals and objectives for maintaining sustainable population levels of one or more species that are particularly sensitive to environmental factors, but which are not yet considered in danger of becoming extinct. You can read the proposed management plan and comment at: https://species-registry.canada.ca/index-en.html#/documents/742