Plumbeous Vireo
Vireo plumbeus
Dull gray vireo with bold white spectacles. Relatively thick bill and slower movements help separate this bird from other small songbirds. Combination of white spectacles and plain gray color distinguish Plumbeous from other vireos. Only sometimes shows a faint yellowish wash on the sides. Resident populations in northern Central America are brighter (much like Cassin's Vireo), but not as bright and contrasty as Blue-headed Vireo, which occurs there in winter. Found in coniferous and mixed forests.
Identification
The plumbeous vireo (Vireo plumbeus) is a small North American songbird in the family Vireonidae, the vireos, greenlets, and shrike-babblers. It is found from the U. S. states of Montana and South Dakota south to Honduras.
Taxonomy
Genus: Vireo; Family: Vireonidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Vireo plumbeus
- Authority
- Coues, 1866
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Vireonidae
- Genus
- Vireo
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Long-tailed Honey-buzzard
Henicopernis longicauda
A large, long-tailed raptor of lowland and montane forest and clearings. Commonly seen in flight soaring in circles over the canopy with wing and tail feathers spread, showing strong barring. The only similar looking raptor that regularly soars is Pacific Baza, but Long-tailed Honey-buzzard has a streaked chest and lacks the buffy underwing and belly. When perched, similar to Doria’s Goshawk, but has yellow eyes and white legs. Usually silent.
Pigeon Guillemot
Cepphus columba
Small jet-black seabird of coastal areas of the Pacific. Breeding plumage is black with bold white wing patch and bright red legs. Plumage changes dramatically in winter to whitish overall with dusky markings on body and black wingtips. Often found in shallower coastal waters than other alcids and regularly seen from shore. Dives to hunt for fish and invertebrates. Nests in crevice or burrow in a cliff or around large rocks.
Sao Tome Paradise-Flycatcher
Terpsiphone atrochalybeia
A distinctive long-tailed paradise-flycatcher with different-looking sexes. Male is glossy blue-black with a pale blue bill and blue eye-rings; female has a dark crown, a gray face, rusty upperparts, and pale underparts. Juvenile is like female; young male slowly turns black. A common resident throughout São Tomé in the understory and at middle levels of most habitats. The only other flycatcher within its range is the dull brown Spotted Flycatcher, a scarce migrant. Calls include a rapid electric clicking and buzzing “dzzrt-dzzrt-dzzrt.” The song is a musical repeated “swee dzee-tee che-ree.”
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