General

Black-capped Vireo: Small vireo with olive-green upperparts, black hood, white spectacles interrupted with black above the eye, and white underparts with olive-yellow flanks. Wings are dark with two pale bars. Iris is red-brown to red. Female and juvenile are similar but have gray caps and brown irises.

Range and Habitat

Black-capped Vireo: This species has a limited range, breeding from central Oklahoma through central Texas and south into northern Mexico. It spends winters in southwestern Mexico along the Pacific coast. Its preferred habitats include rangelands with scattered clumps of shrubs separated by open grasslands.

Breeding and Nesting

Black-capped Vireo: Three to five white eggs are laid in a nest made of twigs, bark, and leaves, bound with silk, lined with fine grass, and built from 1 to 15 feet above the ground in a scrub oak or other short, deciduous tree. Incubation ranges from 14 to 17 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Black-capped Vireo: Feeds on insects and insect eggs, spiders, and small fruits and berries; forages for food in deep cover among trees and thickets.

Vocalization

Black-capped Vireo: Song is a persistent, hurried series of twittering two or three note phrases "come here, right-now-quick." Call is a "ji-dit."

Similar Species

Black-capped Vireo: Blue-headed Vireo is larger, lacks red iris, and has spectacles that are broken in front of eye.