Vireo plumbeus
adult
From Alamy: Glenn Bartley/All Canada Photos/Alamy Stock Photo: Plumbeous Vireo.
The Plumbeous Vireo is a chunky songbird with a relatively short but very stout bill; it is grayer overall than other vireo species. The sexes are similar. Adults have mainly dull gray upperparts, and whitish underparts that are washed gray on the flanks. The white “spectacles” around the eyes are striking features, and the dark wings have two white wingbars and pale margins to the inner flight feathers. Juveniles are similar to adults but with a subtle yellow suffusion on the flanks.
The Plumbeous Vireo is present as a breeding species in its well-defined Rocky Mountain range mainly from May to September. It spends the rest of the year mainly in Mexico. Given the rather open nature of its favored habitat, the species is relatively easy to see by the standards of other vireos. It hunts in a deliberate manner for insect prey.
adult
FACT FILE
LENGTH 5.5 in (14 cm)
FOOD Insects and other invertebrates
HABITAT Forests in the Rocky Mountains
STATUS Locally common summer visitor
VOICE Song comprises a whistled tchee-oee followed by a churring tchewee. Call is a rasping tche
