Warbling Vireo is a very plain looking bird with a musical warbling song.
They are often found high in the treetops, and may be known by song more
than by appearance for many people. They can be found across much of
North America. The eastern and western birds sing slightly different
songs, leading some to believe they should be classified as separate
species, but they are virtually identical in appearance.
open deciduous or mixed forest during the summer breeding season, especially
along woodland edges and clearings. They can also be found in isolated
groves of trees in otherwise largely unforested land, such as farmsteads and
shelterbelts, riparian areas, and suburban settings. They winter in open
woods in the tropics.
Diet: Primarily feeds on insects in all seasons.
Will also eat spiders, snails, fruits, and berries.
Behavior: Forages by moving briskly through
foliage and gleaning insects from leaves and branches. They will also
sometimes hover to glean insects.
Nesting: Late May through mid-July. The nest
of a Warbling Vireo is a cup of grasses, sedges, strips of bark, leaves, and
other plant material, placed in the fork of a tree. The female lays
between 3 and 5 eggs, and both parents help to incubate them. When the
eggs hatch, both parents help to feed the young. The young fledge after
about 2 weeks.
Migration: Summers throughout most of the
continental United States except for portions of the South, also in much of
western Canada. Winters in Mexico and points south.
Conservation Status: Numbers are probably much greater than before European settlement of North
America, due to the vast increases in "edge" habitat created through
fragmentation and clearing of forest land.
The IUCN lists the
Warbling Vireo as a species of "Least Concern".
Cornell Lab of Ornithology - Warbling Vireo
Photo Information: September 5th, 2011 - Minnehaha
County, South Dakota - Terry Sohl
Additional Photos: Click on the image chips or
text links below for additional, higher-resolution Warbling Vireo photos.