- Vireo solitarius
Identification
Length 13-15 cm, weight 14-19 g
- White throat
- Bright dark green back
- Yellow-tinged wing bars and tertials
- Greenish-yellow edges to dark secondaries
- White outer tail feathers
- Yellow sides and flanks
Adult Male:Solid blue-gray hood and white rings around eyes that look like the number 6.
Female and Immature: Grayish hood
Distribution
Breeds in central and eastern Canada and the northeastern USA; winters from southeastern USA through eastern Mexico to Central America.
Taxonomy
Blue-headed Vireo together with Plumbeous Vireo and Cassin's Vireo have recently been split; prior to the split, the combined species was called Solitary Vireo. Blue-headed Vireo inherited the scientific name Vireo solitarius from the parent species.
Subspecies
There are 2 subspecies[1]:
- V. s. solitarius:
- North-eastern British Columbia to eastern US; winters to Cuba and Costa Rica.
- V. s. alticola:
Habitat
Common in woodlands.
Behaviour
Feeds on insects, spiders and small snails; moves slowly through trees. Also takes soft fruit (e.g. dogwood Cornus, elder Sambucus) in later summer and fall.
Vocalisation
Song: Similar to Red-eyed Vireo, but slower.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Blue-headed Vireo. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Blue-headed_Vireo
