General

Philadelphia Vireo: Medium-sized vireo with olive-green upperparts and yellow-washed to yellow underparts. Head has a gray cap, dark eyes, and white-bordered black eye-line. Wings are olive-green with very faint wing-bars. Undertail coverts yellow. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Philadelphia Vireo: Breeds in central and southern Canada from Alberta east to Quebec and in extreme northern states. Winters in the tropics from the Yucatan Peninsula south. Preferred habitats include open second-growth woodlands, old clearings, burned-over areas, and thickets along streams and lakes.

Breeding and Nesting

Philadelphia Vireo: Three to five white eggs with brown and black speckles at larger end are laid in a nest made of grass, moss, lichens, and plant down, and hung by spider silk and insect webbing. Incubation ranges from 12 to 14 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Philadelphia Vireo: Eats mostly insects, some fruits, and berries. Forages slow and deliberately in low to mid-level vegetation, often hanging upside down to pick off insects; sometimes forages while hovering.

Vocalization

Philadelphia Vireo: Song is a high, drawn-out "cherrie-o-witt, cheree, siss-a-wit, tee-o", similar to song of Red-eyed Vireo, but thinner, higher-pitched, and slower. Call is a low, nasal "rreh."

Similar Species

Philadelphia Vireo: Tennessee Warbler has a slender, pointed bill, brighter upperparts, white undertail coverts, indistinct wing-bar, and short tail. Warbling Vireo has olive-gray upperparts and head, pale lores, and lacks wing-bars.