Shown with and just after an insect snack.

Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius)

October 21, 2023

Southeastern Pennsylvania

BOTD: Warbling Vireo

Photo: Mick Thompson

"Rather plain, but with a cheery warbled song, the Warbling Vireo is a common summer bird in leafy groves and open woods from coast to coast. Because it avoids solid tracts of mature, unbroken forest, it is probably more common and widespread today than it was when the Pilgrims landed. Some scientists believe that eastern and western Warbling Vireos may represent two different species; if that is true, then the two are very difficult to tell apart in the wild."

- Audubon Field Guide

Red-eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus)

Part of a collection of watercolors by "M. Rabié" for St. Domingue Oiseaux. Dated 1766.

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Birds of December '23

Blue-headed Vireo (took this in November, but overlooked it and I don’t get many pictures of this one). Red-headed Woodpecker Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Carolina Wren Northern Flicker (male) Red-headed Woodpecker (juvenile) Red-shouldered Hawk Hairy Woodpecker Northern Flicker (female) Can you tell I like woodpeckers? Golden-crowned Kinglet Dark-eyed Junco Eastern Bluebird (male) Belted…

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The other half of how Debbie and friends see one another, stars indicate self perception. First part here.

They sure have some conflicting opinions of each other.

Flycatchers, early June 2022. 

We saw a LOT of flycatchers (or possibly vireos--it was hard to make them out) while hiking. They usually had an upright posture when sitting on a branch. They they would flutter out to catch insects mid-air! Although they could turn and twist in the air, they were very "fluttery" (flappy) and looked slow--slower than warblers anyway. They were hard to photograph (wouldn't let met get too close), but I caught some! 

We definitely heard Great Crested Flycatchers (I can recognise their squawk now); but I think the ones in these photographs might be Least Flycatchers.

Warbling Vireo. The background trees are meant to emulate a sonogram of the bird’s cheerful song.

paisley gets a pet of her very own... designed by @thefairygodmonster! yeehee

was taking pictures of bluebirds when a plumbeous vireo flew in

Rufous-crowned Greenlet (Hylophilus poicilotis), family Vieronidae, found in South America

photograph by @giovan_alex_photography

Cedar Waxwing, Red-Eyed Vireo taken from 'Seventh Report of the Dorest, Fish and Game Commission of the State of New York' (1902).

University of Washington

Wikimedia.

Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo flavifrons)

September 18, 2022

Southeastern Pennsylvania

BOTD: Slaty Vireo

Photo: Michael Woodruff

"Handsome but often elusive small vireo of brushy woodlands, tangled thickets, and forest edges in highlands and foothills; endemic to southwestern Mexico. Tends to stay hidden, usually rather low within vegetation, and does not join mixed-species flocks. Moves sluggishly, holding its tail cocked and making short sallies for fruit and insects."

- eBird

the gray vireo is a sparrow-sized bird found primarily in the southwestern united states. they are a pale gray, and similar in coloration to the northern mockingbird, but lacking their distinctive wing bars. they have a pale eye ring and a slightly hooked beak. this bird prefers dry habitats such as scrubland, where they primarily feed on small insects. they build their nests with a variety of dry materials like cobwebs.

March 2, 2024 - Rufous-crowned Greenlet (Hylophilus poicilotis) Found in southeastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, and northern Argentina, these birds in the vireo family live in lowland and mountain forests and woodlands. They feed primarily on invertebrates, along with some fruit, foraging alone, in pairs, and in small flocks, sometimes with other species. Very little is known about their breeding behavior, though a bird was seen with green moss in late September and they have been observed in likely family groups of up to six birds.

Random doodles from over the past month