Adult. Photo: Doug Deneve/Audubon Photography Awards
Vireo solitarius
| Conservation status | In parts of the East, has expanded its breeding range southward during recent decades, with increasing numbers noted also. |
|---|---|
| Family | Vireos |
| Habitat | Mixed conifer-deciduous woods. Breeds in rather open woods, usually containing a mixture of conifers and deciduous trees. Migrants occur in any kind of woodland. |
Forages rather deliberately in upper part of trees, searching for insects along branches and twigs as well as among leaves. Sometimes flies out to catch insects in mid-air, or searches for items on bark of major limbs.
3-5, usually 4. Whitish, lightly spotted with brown and black. Incubation is by both parents, about 12-14 days. In some areas, nests are often parasitized by cowbirds. Young: Both parents feed the nestlings. Young leave the nest about 2 weeks after hatching.
Both parents feed the nestlings. Young leave the nest about 2 weeks after hatching.
Mostly insects. In summer feeds almost entirely on insects, including caterpillars, stink bugs, beetles, wasps, bees, ants, moths, tree crickets, and many others; also spiders. Also eats some berries and small fruits, especially in winter, when they may make up more than one-fourth of diet.
Male sings frequently throughout the day to defend nesting territory. In courtship display, male may fluff up plumage and bob his body up and down while singing. Nest: Placed in horizontal fork of branch in tree, often quite low (3-12' above the ground), can be up to 35' or higher. Nest (built by both sexes) is a rather bulky open cup, suspended by its rim. Nest is made of grass, strips of bark, weeds, plant fibers, rootlets, lined with plant down and hair. Outside of nest may be decorated with moss, pine needles, pieces of paper.
Audubon’s scientists have used 140 million bird observations and sophisticated climate models to project how climate change will affect this bird’s range in the future.
Zoom in to see how this species’s current range will shift, expand, and contract under increased global temperatures.
Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too.
The legislation helps the agriculture and forestry industries naturally remove carbon from the atmosphere, creating a cleaner future for birds and people.
The hemlock woolly adelgid is moving north, and feathers could be providing the perfect ride, experiments show.
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