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pewee

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pe⋅wee

[pee-wee]
–noun
1. any of several New World flycatchers of the genus Contopus. Compare wood pewee.
2. the phoebe.

Origin:
1790–1800, Americanism; imit.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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pe·wee also pee·wee   (pē'wē)   
n.  Any of various small, olive-gray North American flycatchers of the genus Contopus, especially a wood pewee.

[Imitative of its call.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

pewee 
"flycatcher, lapwing," 1810, variant of pewit (q.v.). See also peewee.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

pewee

any of eight species of birds of the genus Contopus (family Tyrannidae); it is named for its call, which is monotonously repeated from an open perch. In North America a sad, clear "pee-oo-wee" announces the presence of the eastern wood pewee (C. virens), while a blurry "peeurrr" is the call of the western wood pewee (C. sordidulus). Some authorities consider the western form to be a race of C. virens. Both forms are plain birds, about 14 cm (6 inches) long, that resemble the eastern phoebe; the two forms differ from the eastern phoebe, however, in being browner and more slender and in having two distinct whitish wing bars

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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