Black-whiskered Vireo
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| Vireo altiloquus (Vieillot, 1808) |
The Black-whiskered Vireo, Vireo altiloquus, is a small passerine bird, which breeds in southern Florida, USA, and the West Indies as far south as the offshore islands of Venezuela. It is a partial migrant, with northern birds wintering from the Greater Antilles to northern South America. This species has occurred as a rare vagrant to Costa Rica.
The breeding habitat is open deciduous wooded areas and cultivation, and in Florida also mangroves. The Black-whiskered Vireo builds a cup nest in a fork of a tree branch, and lays 2-3 white eggs.
This vireo is 14-15 cm in length, has a 25 cm wingspan and weighs 17-19 g. It has thick blue-grey legs and a stout bill.
The adult Black-whiskered Vireo has dull olive-green upperparts and white underparts, with yellowish on the flanks and under the tail. It has red eyes and a grey-brown crown with faint dusky edges. There is a dark line through the eyes and a white eyebrow stripe. There is a distinctive black line (the “whisker”) on the neck sides. Juvenile birds are similar, but have brown-red eyes.
This species is similar to Red-eyed Vireo, but is duller and browner above, and is best distinguished by the black whisker mark. The song is a three-syllable whip, Tom Kelly, more abrupt than that of Red-eyed Vireo.
The Florida race V. a. barbatulus is shorter-billed by 15% than the northern Caribbean subspecies V. a. bonairensis. The latter form has occurred in the USA as a vagrant to Florida and Louisiana.
The Black-whiskered Vireo gleans insects from tree foliage, sometimes hovering while foraging. It will also eat small quantities of berries
This bird suffers from nest parasitism by the Brown-headed Cowbird in its US range, and Shiny Cowbird further south.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Vireo altiloquus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 09 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Hilty, Steven L (2003). Birds of Venezuela. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5.
- ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, 2nd edition, Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2.
- A guide to the birds of Costa Rica by Stiles and Skutch ISBN 0-8014-9600-4
