Warbling Vireo
Warbling Vireo Video Clips
Unlike other vireos, Warbling Vireos have a plain face broken only by a white supercilium, pale lores, a gray-green back, lack of wing bars with mostly whitish underparts. However, here in the West, these birds often have yellower underparts especially in the fall.
After leaving the bird bath, the vireo flew into the nearby lilac and waited for another chance to quickly take another splash in the bath. When observing the vireo, it appears to dive into the water bowl and immediately fly out.
The Warbling Vireo's most noticeable feature is the voice. Over a century ago, naturalist Elliott Coues wrote, "A ripple of melody threading its way through the mazes of verdure, now almost absorbed in the sighing of the foliage, now flowing released on its grateful mission." Their cheerful warble is heard all day long from deciduous trees and also from the nest.
If you are interested in reading a most entertaining and informative story, check out The Warbling Vireo, or Greenlet which is posted on the audubon.org's web site.
The Warbling Vireo has decreased considerably due to the following causes: loss of riparian forest habitat where it breeds, extensive spraying of pesticides on shade trees, and increased brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds.