Thick-billed Vireo

Overview

The thick-billed vireo (Vireo crassirostris) is a small passerine bird found primarily on various islands of the West Indies, with occasional vagrancies to south Florida in the United States. The species is currently assessed as being of Least Concern by the IUCN, despite having a limited range.

Identification

• Measures 11.5 to 13.4 cm in length and weighs between 11 to 16 g.
• Adults possess a grayish olive to brownish olive crown and upperparts, with dusky wing coverts featuring wide white tips that form two prominent wing bars.
• Underparts are pale grayish buff to light yellowish, while the bill has a dusky horn upper mandible and a pale horn lower mandible.
• The song, sung exclusively by males, is described as a bubbly, variable 'chik-didle-wer-chip'.

Habitat

This species inhabits deciduous woodlands, scrublands, and mangroves. Its range is restricted to specific island groups within the West Indies, including the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, the Cayman Islands, and parts of Cuba and Haiti.

Diet

The thick-billed vireo feeds primarily on arthropods, supplemented occasionally by fruit. It forages at all levels of its habitat by gleaning food from leaves and branches.

Did you know?

The construction of its cup-shaped nest incorporates plant fibers and spider web, which are lined with grasses and attached to branches or forks.