White-eyed Vireo

A small, shy bird, the White-eyed Vireo has yellow sides, two white wing bars, and a yellow "spectacle" around its white eye. Length: 11-13 cm.; weight: 10-13 g. Audio 2 (M. Oberle). Breeds in the eastern USA and northeastern Mexico. Rare winter visitor to Puerto Rico where it inhabits thickets and vine tangles in dry and wet forest, and urban gardens (San Juan, 31 Dec. 1970; Mona Island, Feb. 1972). However, in recent years it has been regularly found in locations in Dorado and at the Caño Tiburones Nature Reserve. Because it is hard to see in dense vegetation, it may be more common than believed. Will occasionally sing in winter.

TAXONOMY: PASSERIFORMES; VIREONIDAE

References

Arendt, W.J. 1992. Status of North American migrant landbirds in the Caribbean region: a summary. Pp. 143-171 in Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds (J.M. Hagan III and D.W. Johnston, eds.) Smithsonian Instit. Press, Washington, D.C.

Bent, A.C. 1950. Life histories of North American wagtails, shrikes, vireos, and their allies. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 197. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1965).

Hopp, S. L., A. Kirby, and C. A. Boone. 1995. White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus). No. 168 in The birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, PA, and Am. Ornithol. Union, Washington, D.C.

Raffaele, H. A. 1981. New records of bird species for Puerto Rico and one for the West Indies. Am Birds 35:142-143.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Terborgh, J. and J. Faaborg. 1973. Turnover and ecological release in the avifauna of Mona Island, Puerto Rico. Auk 90:759-779.

Zwartjes, P. W. 1999. Genetic variability in the endemic vireos of Puerto Rico and Jamaica contrasted with the continental White-eyed Vireo. Auk 116(4):964-975.

White-eyed Vireo, Spanish text

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