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Plumbeous Vireo

Vireo plumbeusOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Vireos (Vireonidae)

Plumbeous Vireo Breeding Male Portrait
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General

Plumbeous Vireo: Medium-sized vireo with gray back, white throat and underparts, olive-gray sides, and yellow-washed flanks. Crown, nape, and face are gray; eye-rings appear as large, white spectacles. Wings are dark gray with two white bars. Tail is short with white edges. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Plumbeous Vireo: Breeds from southern Montana and southern Idaho southward to Mexico and Guatemala. Spends winters in Mexico and Central America. Preferred habitats include montane coniferous and mixed forests, and riparian woodlands in arid inter-montane basins.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chureeh, ch-ireet', ch-reeh, cg-ireet", "cheh-cheh-cheh, cheh"

Interesting Facts

 The Plumbeous vireo was first described in 1866 by Elliott Coues, an American army surgeon, historian, ornithologist and author.

 It was formerly considered to belong to the same species as Cassin's Vireo and Blue-headed Vireo. At that time, they were referred to as the "Solitary Vireo".

 Despite the close relationship and shared habitat between this species and the Cassin’s Vireo, no cases of hybridization are known between the two.

 A group of vireos are collectively known as a "call" of vireos.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Plumbeous Vireo
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Vireos and Allies (Vireonidae)_blue
Species Vireo plumbeus
Length5 - 6 Inches
Wingspan8.5 Inches

Plumbeous Vireo

Plumbeous Vireo: Medium vireo, gray back, white throat and underparts, olive-gray sides, yellow-washed flanks. Crown, nape, and face are gray; eye-rings appear as large, white spectacles. Wings are dark gray with two white bars. Tail is short with white edges. Blue-gray legs and feet.

● Song: "chureeh, ch-ireet', ch-reeh, cg-ireet", "cheh-cheh-cheh, cheh"

● Foraging & Feeding: Plumbeous Vireo: Eats insects and some fruits and berries; forages and perches from mid to high levels in trees, gleaning insects from foliage or bark.

● Breeding & nesting: Plumbeous Vireo: Three to five white eggs, spotted at larger end with red brown, are laid in a nest made of bark, grass, plant fibers and spider web, lined with fine grass and plant down, and built 4 to 30 feet above the ground near the tip of a branch in a tree or bush. Incubation ranges from 14 to 15 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Plumbeous Vireo: Gray Vireo is smaller, slimmer, and has a single wing-bar and faint eye-ring. Blue-headed and Cassin's vireos have green backs contrasting with darker hoods, and yellow flanks.

Flight Pattern

Somewhat weak fluttering direct flight on rapidly beating wings.
Plumbeous Vireo Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Plumbeous Vireo: Breeds from southern Montana and southern Idaho southward to Mexico and Guatemala. Spends winters in Mexico and Central America. Preferred habitats include montane coniferous and mixed forests, and riparian woodlands in arid inter-montane basins.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationFairly common, Accidental in LA
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.5 Ounces