General

Bell's Vireo: Small vireo with faint, broken eye-ring, thick and slightly flattened hooked bill, and two wing bars. Upperparts are gray and underparts are white with pale yellow wash on sides. Eastern race has gray-green upperparts and distinct yellow wash on underparts. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Bell's Vireo: Breeds from southern California, Colorado, Dakotas, and Indiana southward. Absent from eastern third of the U.S. Spends winters along the Pacific coast from northern Mexico south to northern Nicaragua. Preferred habitats include forest undergrowth, streamside thickets, woodland edges, and brushy fields.

Breeding and Nesting

Bell's Vireo: Three to five white eggs, usually spotted black or brown, are laid in a small cup nest made of leaves, grass, bark, and spider webs, and lined with fine grass, coarse hairs, feathers, and wool. Nest is hung from a fork in a tree or shrub or suspended by rim between two limbs, 1 to 5 feet above the ground, rarely higher. Both parents incubate eggs for 14 days.

Foraging and Feeding

Bell's Vireo: Feeds on caterpillars, beetles, bees, wasps, and small spiders. Moves slowly, taking food from branches and leaves.

Vocalization

Bell's Vireo: Song is harsh and squeaky, resembling a series of question-and-answer phrases "zheedle zheedle zheedle zhoo? (pause) zheedle zheedle zheedle zhee!"

Similar Species

Bell's Vireo: Hutton's Vireo has broader wingbars and dull gray underparts. Gray Vireo has a longer tail and more subtle wingbars. White-eyed Vireo has yellow lores and white eyes. Warbling Vireo is larger and has a bolder stripe extending further behind the eye.