5.25 inches long. The Blue-headed Vireo is a medium-sized vireo with a dark eye and a thick hooked bill and two white wing bars. The blue-gray head has bold white spectacles. The back is olive colored and contrasts with the head. The throat, breast, and undertail coverts are white with yellowish flanks.
The Blue-headed Vireo is a somewhat common migrant that is seen from late April through all of May and again from early September through mid October.
The Blue-headed Vireo was called the Solitary Vireo until recently. It has since been split into three species, The Blue-headed Vireo, the Plumbeous Vireo, and the Cassin’s Vireo. The Blue-headed Vireo is the eastern bird. It is the earliest vireo migrant. It breeds in the thick coniferous forests of the north, although it also occupies deciduous habitats. It prefers an understory of shrubs and small trees where its nests are suspended well below the canopy. It forages mainly at mid height in a forest, moving slowly among branches from which much of its food is secured. It is also adept at snatching insect prey from leaves and twigs while in flight. The song is a series simple whistled phrases similar to a Red-eyed Vireo but higher “see you, cheerio, be seein’ you, so long”.
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