Family Vireonidae

Vireos

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General

Internal arrangement heavily modified, based on recent genetic study#R, along with addition of Asian genera Pteruthius and Erpornis (see below).

9-18 cm.

8 genera, 64 species, 222 taxa.

3 species threatened;
none extinct since 1600.

Systematics

The word “vireo” is the first person singular of the Latin verb virere, which means “to be green”, so the precise meaning of “vireo” is “I am green”. The word may have been used in Classical times for birds such as the European Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris), but in more...

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Morphological Aspects

For a group of birds that has, until comparatively recently, been split into three different families, vireonids are remarkably similar to each other in general size, structure and morphology. Even the peppershrikes and shrike-vireos differ from the others only in being somewhat larger, more...

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Habitat

Vireos and their allies occupy diverse habitats over a wide range, extending from temperate through to tropical latitudes. Although not found in grassland, moorland or high-altitude páramo, members of this family occur in a wide variety of habitats which have at least bush cover and...

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General Habits

The majority of vireo species spend most of their time foraging in the upper levels of woods and forests, when their rather slow, deliberate actions are themselves fairly characteristic. For birdwatchers, the...

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Voice

In terms of their ability as songbirds, most vireos are noted more for perseverance than for musical accomplishment. Indeed, in the USA, a local nickname for the Red-eyed Vireo in the nineteenth century was “The Preacher”, from this species’ monotonous, persistent and constantly repeated notes...

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Food and Feeding

Most of the detailed information available on the diet of vireonids has come from the examination of stomach contents of collected specimens, a process which, while raising ethical concerns in some quarters, does, at least, allow the accurate and quantitative identification of food items. In...

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Breeding

The breeding behaviour of those vireonids that nest in Canada and the USA has generally been well studied and documented. For those breeding in Mexico and in Central and South America, on the other hand, there are major gaps in knowledge, with even the nests and eggs of a substantial number of...

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Movements

Within the Vireonidae there is a great diversity of migratory behaviour, a characteristic that this family has in common with many other families of primarily insectivorous birds with a breeding range encompassing both temperate and tropical areas, of which, in the Americas, the parulid...

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Relationship with Man

In broad terms, vireos and humans have little direct interaction. No vireo species has any immediate impact on agriculture, for good or ill, since vireo habitat and human agricultural activity are essentially mutually exclusive, always, of course, to the detriment of the birds. Vireos do have...

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Status and Conservation

Many vireos have adapted quite well to man-made habitat changes and have apparently healthy populations. Migratory species are, of course, dependent upon the maintenance of suitable habitat on both the breeding grounds and the wintering grounds, as well as in suitable stopovers along the route...

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General Bibliography

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Species list

List of species of the Vireos (Vireonidae) family. Each species provides information on taxonomy, descriptive notes, voice, habitat, food and feeding, breeding, movements, status and conservation and bibliography.

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Family Vireonidae

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Public comments

Vireo olivaceous x V. Gilvus cross, Reno, Nevada

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