Plumbeous Vireo

The Plumbeous Vireo is the plainest and grayest of the three species split from the former "Solitary Vireo" complex. Unlike its relatives Blue-headed and Cassin's Vireo, it shows essentially no olive-green or yellow tones—its head, back, and wings are all a uniform slate gray, with clean white underparts and bold white spectacles. Two white wing bars are usually present, though sometimes faint.

It breeds in the mountains and canyon woodlands of the interior Southwest and Rocky Mountain states, favoring pine-oak and ponderosa pine forest.

Key field marks

• Uniform slate-gray upperparts with no olive or yellow wash
• Bold white spectacles
• Clean white underparts
• Two (often faint) white wing bars

Similar species

• Cassin's Vireo: shows olive-green tones on the back and pale yellow on the flanks.
• Blue-headed Vireo: bluer head with sharp contrast against a white throat and olive back; mostly eastern range.
• Gray Vireo: also plain gray, but lacks bold white spectacles (only a thin eye-ring) and has a longer tail that it often flicks.

Range and habitat

Plumbeous Vireo breeds through the interior Southwest and southern Rocky Mountains—Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and parts of Texas—favoring pine-oak woodland, ponderosa pine forest, and mountain canyons.

Migration

Migrates to winter mainly in Mexico, arriving on the breeding grounds relatively late in spring.

Behavior

Forages methodically in the mid- to upper canopy of pines and oaks, gleaning insects from needles and leaves in typical deliberate vireo fashion.

Voice

A slow, burry, warbled series of short phrases, similar in cadence to Blue-headed and Cassin's Vireos.

Feeding

Insects and caterpillars form the bulk of the diet during the breeding season, with berries eaten more in fall and winter.

Nesting and breeding

Builds a hanging cup nest in a fork of a pine or oak branch. The female incubates 3-5 eggs for roughly 2 weeks.