Overview

Warbling Vireo: Small vireo, gray to olive-gray upperparts, white underparts; sides sometimes washed with yellow. Eyes are dark brown, have thick, white eyebrows and faint, dark eye-lines. Gray wings and tail. Legs and feet are blue-gray. Has the largest breeding range of any North American vireo.

Range and Habitat

Warbling Vireo: Breeds from British Columbia, southern Mackenzie, Manitoba, and New Brunswick south to northern Mexico, Louisiana, and Virginia. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include deciduous woodlands, especially near streams and in isolated groves and shade trees.

Breeding and Nesting

Warbling Vireo: Three to five black and brown spotted, white eggs are laid in a well made pendant-shaped nest of bark strips and plant down fastened to a forked twig, usually near the top of a tall tree. Both parents incubate eggs for approximately 12 days.

Foraging and Feeding

Warbling Vireo: Diet consists almost entirely of insects, some spiders, and a few berries; forages for food in tops of trees.

Vocalization

Warbling Vireo: Song is a drowsy, rambling warble that ends on a rising note.

Similar Species

Warbling Vireo: Red-eyed Vireo has olive-green back and contrasting gray crown, bold white line behind eye offset by black stripes, and red eyes as adults. Philadelphia Vireo has dark lores and pale yellow throat and breast. Tennessee Warbler is smaller and has a thin, pointed bill.