Genetic evidence indicates that Tropical Pewee is paraphyletic (Harvey et al. 2020), and vocalizations also differ significantly between populations (Boesman 2016m). Therefore this species is split into three species: a monotypic Tumbes Pewee Contopus punensis; a polytypic Southern Tropical Pewee Contopus cinereus, with subspecies pallescens and cinereus; and a polytypic Northern Tropical Pewee Contopus bogotensis, with subspecies brachytarsus, rhizophorus, aithalodes, bogotensis, and surinamensis. Note that the split does not align with the three previously recognized groups: we had included subspecies bogotensis and surinamensis together with pallescens and cinereus in the group Tropical Pewee (Tropical) Contopus cinereus [cinereus Group], but bogotensis and surinamensis instead are allied to the taxa in the group Tropical Pewee (Short-legged) Contopus cinereus [brachytarsus Group].