Solitary Vireo

Vireo solitarius

The best I can do in identifying this bird is to say that it is a Solitary Vireo (Tveten's name). Alsop (337) and others call it a Blue-headed Vireo.

Tveten (307) writes, "Prominent white 'spectacles' adorn the blue-gray head of the solitary vireo, while the wings have two light bars. In the eastern race, which migrates across much of Texas ... the head color contrasts strongly with a greenish back. White underparts are marked with greenish yellow on the sides and flanks. A Rocky Mountain race ... called the 'plumbeous form,' ... is more iniformly lead gray above, without the contrast between head and back." But the plumbeous form occupies the Trans-Pecos, far from here.

The USGS webpage has this information on the Blue-headed Vireo, including a photograph.

Photo taken with a Nikon D80 using a Nikon 300mm manual focus f/2.8 lens.

February 10, 2007