Bird name:

Blue-headed Vireo

Vireo solitarius

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Vireos (Vireonidae)

Code 4

BHVI

Code 6

VIRSOL

ITIS

179010

Breeding Location:

Forests

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Egg Color:

White with black and brown marks at large end

Number of Eggs:

3 - 5

Incubation Days:

12 - 14

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Twigs, leaves, rootlets, grass, and bark.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Blue-headed Vireo: Medium-sized vireo with olive-green upperparts, white underparts, and yellow flanks. Head has blue-gray hood, white spectacles, and white throat. Wings are dark with two white or pale yellow bars. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is duller.

Range and Habitat

Blue-headed Vireo: Breeds from Connecticut (and southward along crest of the Alleghenies) northward to New Brunswick and Manitoba; Spends winters from Florida southward. Preferred habitats include coniferous and mixed forests.

Breeding and Nesting

Blue-headed Vireo: Three to five white eggs with black and brown markings at large end are laid in a cup nest made of twigs, grass, shredded bark, stems, spider webs, and cocoons. Nest is lined with grass and hair and built in a tree or bush 4 to 30 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 12 to 14 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Blue-headed Vireo: Feeds mostly on insects, but eats berries in winter. Gleans insects from treetops and branches or flies out to catch insects in mid-air.

Vocalization

Blue-headed Vireo: Song is a series of slow, drawn-out phrases "cherry-o-wit-cheree-sissy-a-wit" repeated frequently throughout the day.

Similar Species

Blue-headed Vireo: Black-capped Vireo has black head.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Crest

Tufts of feathers on the head of the bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America