Puerto Rican Vireo

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Puerto Rican Vireo
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Vireonidae
Genus: Vireo
Species: V. latimeri
Binomial name
Vireo latimeri
(Baird, 1866)

The Puerto Rican Vireo (Vireo latimeri) is a small true vireo endemic to the archipelago of Puerto Rico and one of the 31 species belonging to the Vireo genus of the Vireonidae family. Its local name is bien-te-veo ("see-you-well", after the call), not to be confused with the unrelated Bienteveo tyrant flycatcher which is found elsewhere.

The Puerto Rican Vireo has a gray head, a white breast and a yellowish belly. The species measures, on average, 12 cm (4.72 in) and weighs from 11 to 12 grams (0.388–0.423 oz).

An insectivore, the species's diet consists of grasshoppers, caterpillars, cicadas, beetles and aphids and is complemented with spiders, Anolis, and berries.

From 1973–1996 the species suffered a population decline in the Guánica State Forest. The primary reason for this decline was brood parasitism by the Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis).[2]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Vireo latimeri. IUCN List of threatened species. IUCN (2004). Retrieved on July 4, 2006.
  2. ^ John Faarborg, Kate M. Dugger, Wayne J. Arendt, Bethany L. Woodworth, and Micheal E. Baltz (June 1997). "Population declines of the Puerto Rican Vireo in the Guánica State Forest" (pdf). Wilson Bulletin 109 (2). 

[edit] References

  • Oberle, Mark (2003). Las aves de Puerto Rico en fotografías. Editorial Humanitas. ISBN 0-9650104-2-2.  (Spanish)