General

Black-whiskered Vireo: Large vireo with olive-green upperparts and olive-buff washed white underparts. Head has gray crown, dark whisker (moustache stripe) along sides of throat, white eyebrow with black border, and red-brown eyes. Bill is black, straight, and slightly hooked. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has brown eyes and more yellow on underparts.

Range and Habitat

Black-whiskered Vireo: Breeds in southern Florida and West Indies. Spends winters in tropics. Preferred habitats include mangroves, thick scrub, and shade trees.

Breeding and Nesting

Black-whiskered Vireo: Two to three white eggs with fine brown, purple, and black specks are laid in a nest made of twigs, grass, plant fibers, spider webs, cocoons, and lichens, lined with grass, pine needles, and hair, and built from 3 to 20 feet above the ground on a thin branch of a shrub or tree. Incubation ranges from 12 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Black-whiskered Vireo: Eats a variety of insects but also takes some spiders and fruits; forages slowly and deliberately, picking food from leaves and branches.

Vocalization

Black-whiskered Vireo: Song is a humorous mnemonic of "whip-tom-KELLY", "John-to-whit", or "cheap-john-stir-up." Call is mewing "quee."

Similar Species

Black-whiskered Vireo: Red-eyed Vireo is smaller, has shorter bill, white behind eye with dark border, dark gray crown, darker back, and lacks dark moustache stripe.