Dwarf Vireo
Vireo nelsoni
Small, relatively active vireo of scrubby woodlands and brushy thickets in highlands; mainly in areas of oak woodland. Endemic to southwestern Mexico. Tends to forage low and alone, usually not with mixed-species flocks. Overall plumage and even its short, dry chatter remarkably similar to Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a winter migrant in the range of Dwarf Vireo. Note the vireo’s whitish spectacles, amber eyes, two distinct whitish wingbars, stouter bill, and stouter gray legs relative to a kinglet. Cap is paler and less contrasting than cap of similar female Black-capped Vireo. Also compare with similar Hutton’s Vireo.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Vireo nelsoni
- Authority
- Bond, J, 1934
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Vireonidae
- Genus
- Vireo
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Reeves's Pheasant
Syrmaticus reevesii
A large terrestrial bird of hill forests. Male has very long black-and-white tail and is strikingly patterned: appears crafted out of black-edged gold and white porcelain scales. Female has peach belly and dark comma-like stripe behind the eye. Courting male makes a series of sputtering, bubbling, chirping, and squeaking notes, as well as loud and resonant wing-drumming. Contact and alarm calls are similarly sputtering, varying in loudness.
Magenta-throated Woodstar
Philodice bryantae
Tiny hummingbird with long tail often cocked up. Slow bumblebee-like flight. The only woodstar in its range. Male has purple throat and white collar, otherwise greenish with some orange tones on the flanks. Female more confusing but note small size and flight style; also orange flanks, dark cheek with white spot behind eye, and white patches on sides of rump. Feeds at small flowers at all levels of forest edge, also visits feeders.
Sykes's Warbler
Iduna rama
Plain brown warbler with pale legs. Breeds in Central Asia; winters primarily on the Indian peninsula. Prefers trees with sparse canopy in open, dry habitat. Can be told from Blyth’s Reed Warbler by its leaf-warbler-like behavior and longer tail, and from Booted Warbler by its less compact appearance; flatter stance; longer pale bill (mostly without a dark tip); longer, more loosely attached tail; more pointy face; harder call; and preference for canopy tops. Call is a hard, fast, continuous arrhythmic “thk…thk, thk, thk.”
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