Plate 115 – Wood Pewee

All of the security that motion detectors, sirens, flashing lights, and cameras offer in the modern world was provided by birds for John James Audubon. One of the birds that Audubon relied on most as a sentinel was the Wood Pewee “perched erect on a withered twig, its wings quivering as if it had been seized with a momentary chill, pours forth its rather low, mellow notes with such sweetness as is sure to engage the attention.” The Wood Pewee is now known as the Eastern wood-pewee. For the “weary traveller,” the moment to become wide awake from a nap or slumber was as soon as the Eastern wood-pewee abruptly silenced its low, mellow notes.