Yellow-throated Vireo

The Yellow-throated Vireo is a strikingly colorful vireo, with a bright yellow throat and breast, yellow spectacles around the eye, an olive-green back, a contrasting gray rump, and a white belly. Two bold white wing bars complete the pattern. It is among the most vividly marked of the North American vireos.

It spends most of its time high in the deciduous forest canopy, foraging deliberately and singing a distinctive, slow, burry song that carries well through the treetops.

Key field marks

• Bright yellow throat and breast
• Yellow spectacles, olive-green back, gray rump
• White belly, two bold white wing bars

Similar species

• Pine Warbler: also yellow-throated but slimmer-billed, streaked flanks, lacks bold spectacles and wing bar pattern combination.
• White-eyed Vireo: much duller yellow overall, has a pale iris, favors dense low thickets rather than canopy.
• Blue-headed Vireo: white (not yellow) throat, blue-gray head.

Range and habitat

Yellow-throated Vireo breeds across the eastern United States and adjacent southern Canada, in mature deciduous and mixed forests, favoring the upper canopy of large trees, forest edges, and open woodlands.

Migration

A long-distance migrant, wintering from Mexico south through Central America to northern South America.

Behavior

Forages slowly and deliberately in the high canopy, often difficult to see well against the leaves despite its bright coloring.

Voice

A slow, burry, two- or three-note phrase repeated with pauses, lower and hoarser than the similar phrasing of Red-eyed Vireo, often rendered as "three-eight... three-eight."

Feeding

Mostly caterpillars and other insects gleaned from canopy foliage; eats berries and small fruit outside the breeding season.

Nesting and breeding

Builds a well-camouflaged hanging cup nest high in a deciduous tree, often decorated with lichen on the outside. The female incubates 3-5 eggs for about 2 weeks.