Hutton's Vireo

Hutton's Vireo on territory, ssp. huttoni, Channel Islands, CA, 13 June 2004.

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A small, active bird of western forests, the Hutton's Vireo is particularly common amongst live oaks. Its appearance and actions more closely resemble those of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet than other vireos.

Description

• Small songbird.
• Greenish gray above and below.
• Whitish eyering, broken above eye.
• Two whitish wingbars.
• Small bill.
• Short tail.

• Size: 13-12 cm (5-5 in)
• Weight: 9-15 g (0.32-0.53 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Sound

Monotonous and unmusical series of scratchy two-note phrases, "zu-wee, zu-wee, zu-wee."

Conservation Status

Populations stable or slightly increasing.

Other Names

Viréo de Hutton (French)
Vireo reyezuelo común, Vireo oliváceo (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The range of the Hutton's Vireo is broken up into distinct areas separated by wide desert. As a result, up to 12 subspecies have been described, varying in size and slight differences in plumage. A genetic study found the coastal and interior forms to be different enough to consider them separate species.

Sources used to construct this page:

Davis, J. N. 1995. Hutton's Vireo (Vireo huttoni). In The Birds of North America, No. 189 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.