Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
Learn more about these drawings.
Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
Adult. Photo: Tom Benson/Flickr (CC BY NC ND 2.0)
Plumbeous Vireo
Vireo plumbeus
| Conservation status | Still widespread and common, but surveys indicate overall declines in population. |
|---|---|
| Family | Vireos |
| Habitat | Coniferous and mixed conifer-deciduous woods. Breeds in rather open woods, mainly in habitats dominated by ponderosa pine, but also where ponderosa is mixed with junipers or pinyon pines. May be especially common in areas with understory of oak. Migrants occur in any kind of woodland. |
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Feeding Behavior
Forages rather deliberately in upper part of trees, searching for insects along branches and twigs as well as among leaves. Sometimes searches for items on bark of major limbs.
Eggs
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.
Young
Both parents feed the nestlings. Young leave the nest about 2 weeks after hatching.
Diet
Mostly insects. In summer feeds almost entirely on insects, including caterpillars, true bugs, beetles, wasps, bees, and many others; also spiders. Also eats some berries and small fruits, especially in winter.
Nesting
Male sings frequently throughout the day to defend nesting territory. In courtship display, male may fluff up plumage and sway his body from side to side while singing. Nest: Placed in horizontal fork of branch in tree, often quite low (6-12' above the ground), can be much 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 rootlets. Outside of nest may be decorated with moss or lichens.
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- All Seasons - Common
- All Seasons - Uncommon
- Breeding - Common
- Breeding - Uncommon
- Winter - Common
- Winter - Uncommon
- Migration - Common
- Migration - Uncommon
Songs and Calls
Song a rather slow series of burry phrases, slower and rougher than that of Cassin's Vireo. Call a husky chatter.How Climate Change Will Reshape the Range of the Plumbeous Vireo
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.
Climate Threats Near You
Climate threats facing the Plumbeous Vireo
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.
