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.