Red-eyed Vireo
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| iRed-eyed Vireo | ||||||||||||||
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| Vireo olivaceus (Linnaeus, 1766) |
The Red-eyed Vireo, Vireo olivaceus, is a small songbird, 13-14 cm in length.
Adults are mainly olive-green on the upperparts with white underparts; they have red eyes and a grey crown edged with black. There is a dark line through the eyes and a white stripe just over them. They have thick blue-grey legs and a stout bill. They are yellowish on the flanks and under their tail.
The breeding habitat is open wooded areas across Canada and the eastern and northwestern United States; there is also a South American population. The nest is a cup in a fork of a tree branch. This bird suffers from nest parasitism by the Brown-headed Cowbird in its northern range, and Shiny Cowbird further south.
North American birds migrate to South America. South American birds move north to Central America. This vireo is one of the more frequent American passerine vagrants to western Europe, with more than one hundred records, mainly in Ireland and Great Britain.
They glean insects, favouring caterpillars and aphids, from tree foliage, sometimes hovering while foraging. They also eat berries, especially before migration.
This bird, not always seen, may sing for long periods of time; it appears to be endlessly repeating the same question and answer.
The three South American races have a simpler song, and a different wing formula. They are sometimes split as the Chivi Vireo, V. chivi. The three forms concerned are V.o. tobagoensis, a large form endemic to Tobago, V. o. chivi and V.o. vividior.
The Yellow-green Vireo, Vireo flavoviridis, of Central America is also sometimes considered to be a subspecies of Red-eyed Vireo.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Vireo olivaceus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 09 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- Birds of Trinidad and Tobago by ffrench, ISBN 0-7136-6759-1
