Plumbeous Vireo

Plumbeous Vireo, adult; Garden Canyon, AZ; June

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

A common and vocal bird of montane forests, the Plumbeous Vireo is found primarily in the southern Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin. Formerly lumped as a "Solitary Vireo" with Cassin's and Blue-headed vireos, it is now considered a separate species.

Description

• Small songbird, medium-sized vireo.
• Dull gray head and back.
• White spectacles.
• Two whitish wingbars.
• Belly white, flanks gray.

• Size: 12-14 cm (5-6 in)
• Weight: 12-20 g (0.42-0.71 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Sound

Song a broken series of burry two- and three-syllable phrases.

Conservation Status

Populations stable or slightly increasing.

Other Names

Viréo plombé (French)
Vireo plomizo (Spanish)
Solitary Vireo (in part) (English)

Cool Facts

• The Plumbeous Vireo is the middle form in the "Solitary Vireo" complex. Formerly considered one species, three species now are recognized. In appearance it is the dullest of the three, and it has the hoarsest song, which is very similar to that of the Yellow-throated Vireo.
• Although the Plumbeous Vireo used to be considered in the same species as Cassin's Vireo, and they both occur in the same area on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada of California, no cases of hybridization of the two are known.

Sources used to construct this page:

Curson, D. R., and C. B. Goguen. 1998. Plumbeous Vireo (Vireo plumbeus). In The Birds of North America, No. 366 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.