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Red-eyed Vireo
The Red-eyed Vireo, Vireo olivaceus, is a small American songbird, 13-14 cm in length. It is somewhat warbler-like but not closely related to the New World warblers
Adults are mainly olive-green on the upperparts with white underparts; they have a red iris and a grey crown edged with black. There is a dark blackish line through the eyes and a wide white stripe just above that line. They have thick blue-grey legs and a stout bill. They are yellowish on the flanks and under their tail.
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 subspecies have a simpler song, a chestnut iris, and different remiges proportions. They are sometimes split as the Chivi Vireo, V. chivi. The three races concerned are V. o. chivi, V. o. vividior, and V. o. tobagoensis, a large form endemic to Tobago. The Yellow-green Vireo of Central America is also sometimes considered to be a subspecies of Red-eyed Vireo and called Vireo olivaceus flavoviridis by such authors.
The breeding habitat is open wooded areas across Canada and the eastern and northwestern United States; the Latin American population occurs in similar habitat and is partly resident all-year. North American birds migrate to South America. South American birds move north to Central America; also southwestwards to central and northern Argentina. 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.
Red-eyed Vireos glean insects from tree foliage, favouring caterpillars and aphids and sometimes hovering while foraging. They also eat berries, especially before migration and in the winter quarters where trees bearing popular fruit like Gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba) will even attract them to parks and gardensFoster (2007). Cymbopetalum mayanum (Annonaceae) is eaten far less frequently..
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.
References
Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
(1991): A guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd edition). Comstock Publishing, Ithaca, N.Y.. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2
(2007): The potential of fruiting trees to enhance converted habitats for migrating birds in southern Mexico. Bird Conservation International 17(1): 45-61. PDF fulltext
(2003): Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
External links
Red-eyed Vireo - Vireo olivaceous - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
Red-eyed Vireo Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Red-eyed Vireo Information and Photos - South Dakota Birds and Birding
Stamps with RangeMap
Red-eyed Vireo videos - on the Internet Bird Collection
Red-eyed Vireo photo gallery VIREO Photo-High Res--(Close-up)
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Red-eyed Vireo
