Overview

Thick-billed Vireo: Medium vireo, olive-green upperparts, brown or gray-brown iris, broken dull white spectacles, pale yellow underparts shading to white undertail. Wings brown with two white bars. Large, gray bill. Most often heard, not seen. Frequents dense undergrowth and thickets.

Thick-billed Vireo: Accidental or casual in southeastern Florida and the Florida Keys; common in the Caribbean. Preferred habitats include thickets and dense undergrowth.

Voice Text

"chip-chip-WEEEoo-chip", "waaa, waaa, waaa"

• The Thick-billed Vireo was first described by Henry Bryant, an American physician and naturalist in 1859.
• Its song is a variable and rapid six to seven note phrase, starting and ending with a sharp "chick".
• The diet of this species consists almost exclusively of insects.
• A group of vireos are collectively known as a "call" of vireos.

• Warbling Vireo
• Pine Warbler
• White-eyed Vireo
• Yellow-throated Vireo
• Bell's Vireo
• Japanese White-eye
• Hawaii Amakihi

Vireos (Vireonidae)

ORDER

The vireos are one of the one hundred eighteen families of birds in the order PASSERIFORMES (pronounced pas-ser-i-FOR-meez); a large taxonomic order that also includes the bulbuls, dippers, and gnatcatchers.

FAMILY TAXONOMY

A family mostly restricted to the New World, the Vireonidae (pronounced vir-eh-ON-uh-dee) is composed of fifty-nine species of vireos in six genera.

NORTH AMERICA

Thirty-seven species of vireos in four genera occur in North America. In addition to various vireo species, the Neotropical peppershrikes and greenlets are also members of this family.

KNOWN FOR

Like most members of the Vireonidae, the Red-eyed Vireo is known for its habit of constantly singing throughout the day during the breeding season.

PHYSICAL

Vireos are small birds with rather stocky heads, medium length tails, and fairly long wings. They have medium length legs and feet, and rather strong medium length bills with a small hook at the tip.

COLORATION

Members of the vireo family show green, brown, or gray upperparts, and white or yellow underparts. All show facial markings such as spectacles, eyebrows, and eyelines on gray or bluish heads, and some species have light-colored wingbars.

GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT

Various members of the Vireonidae occupy most types of forest and scrub habitats in North America including pinyon-juniper forest (the Gray and Plumbeous Vireos), desert riparian zones (the Warbling Vireo), and mangroves of southern Florida (Black-whiskered Vireo). Members of the family either occur high up in the trees, or low down in thick scrubby vegetation.

MIGRATION

Most vireos are long distance migrants to Central and South America.

HABITS

Vireos do not form flocks, nor do they nest in colonies, although they readily join mixed species flocks during migration and on their wintering grounds. Vireos typically forage by slowly moving through the vegetation to glean larvae and other invertebrates from the leaves and branches, often smacking a prey item on a branch to kill it. Birds that sing slow phrases generally forage high up in the trees, while those that sing rapid chattering songs skulk in the low, thick vegetation.

CONSERVATION

Although no vireo species in North America is endangered, a distinct subspecies, the “Western Warbling Vireo” has declined due to destruction of the southwestern riparian habitats in which it lives.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Cassin’s, Plumbeous, and Blue-headed Vireos were at one time thought to be distinct subspecies of the same species, the Solitary Vireo. They were split after studies demonstrated that their plumages, songs, and habitat use differed enough to rank them as separate species.

Author

Gary Owen Dick