General

Thick-billed Vireo: Medium-sized vireo with olive-green upperparts, brown or gray-brown iris, broken dull white spectacles, and pale yellow underparts shading to white undertail. Wings brown with two white bars. Bill is large and gray. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Thick-billed Vireo: This species has a limited range and is a resident breeder in the West Indies from the Bahamas to the cays off of Cuba. It is an accidental or casual visitor in southeastern Florida and the Florida Keys, but is common in the Caribbean. Preferred habitats include thickets and dense undergrowth.

Breeding and Nesting

Thick-billed Vireo: Two to three white or light pink eggs marked faintly with black or red spots are laid in a nest made of grass, covered on the outside with moss, bark, and bits of paper or rag, and lined with soft plant fibers, down, and grass; nest is usually built near the end of a tree branch. Incubation ranges from 12 to 14 days and is carried out by both parents.

Foraging and Feeding

Thick-billed Vireo: Eats insects, spiders, small fruits, and berries. Forages low, mostly from 2 to 12 feet above the ground, in shrubbery, thickets, dense undergrowth, and trees.

Vocalization

Thick-billed Vireo: Song is an energetic "chip-chip-WEEEoo-chip." Call is a rasping "waaa, waaa, waaa."

Similar Species

Thick-billed Vireo: White-eyed Vireo is smaller with smaller black bill, white iris, olive-gray upperparts, gray head and nape, white underparts with yellow wash on sides and flanks, and complete yellow spectacles.