Perching Birds
Red-eyed Vireo
Vireo
olivaceus
Description
5 1/2 -6 1/2" (14-17 cm).
Sparrow-sized. Olive green above, whitish below, with a narrow white
eyebrow bordered above with black. Gray crown; red eye (eye dark in
immature); no wing bars. Warbling Vireo similar, but lacks gray
crown and black border over bold white eyebrow.
Voice
A series of short, musical, robin-like
phrases endlessly repeated; like that of Solitary Vireo but faster
and not so musical.
Habitat
Broad-leaved forests; shade trees in
residential areas.
Nesting
3 or 4 white eggs, sparsely marked with
dark brown, in a thin-walled pendant cup of bark strips and plant
fibers, decorated with lichen and attached to a forked twig.
Range
Breeds from British Columbia, Ontario, and
Gulf of Saint Lawrence south to Oregon, Colorado, Gulf Coast, and
Florida. Winters in tropics.
Discussion
This vireo has been one of the most
abundant birds in North America, although its numbers seem to have
declined recently, possibly as a result of the destruction of
wintering habitat in the neotropics, fragmentation of northern
breeding forests, or other causes. Its principal habitat,
broad-leaved forests, often supports one pair per acre. A persistent
singer during the breeding season, the Red-eyed Vireo utters its
endless series of short phrases from dawn till dusk, even on the
hottest days when other birds are silent, and may even sing while
grappling with the large insects it captures. The Red-eyed Vireo is
a fierce fighter around its nest and can intimidate even the large
Pileated Woodpecker. Its horizontal posture and slow movement
through the understory of broad-leaved woods make it an easy bird to
study.
Perching Birds