White-eyed Vireo

Vireo griseus
Vireo family (Vireonidae)

Habitat:
Dense shrub thickets.

Description:
Small vireo, 4 ½” long.  Yellow flanks, greenish-gray back, white
throat and breast, white eyes, two white wing bars.

Nesting:
Cup nest is built in a fork of a small tree or shrub, 1 to 8 feet above the ground.  Eggs are white with brown spots.  Clutch size – 3 to 5 eggs.

Voice:
Song is emphatic, with three distinct parts.  Begins and ends with a sharp “chuck” or “chick” note.  Middle notes are variable, like “chick adooweeoo chick”. 

Name Origin:
Vireo, Latin, viridos for “green”; griseus, Modern Latin for “gray”.

In the Nature Park:
Neotropical migrant.  The White-eyed Vireo stays well concealed in dense shrub thickets.  Often heard in shrub thickets at the intersection of trails, like the intersection of the Rim Trail and the Quarry Trail next to the Welcome Center.  Three-part song is very distinctive.