BIRD SPECIES

Gray Vireo

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Vireo vicinior

The Gray Vireo is a small songbird, with a short, slightly hooked bill. It is one of North America's most nondescript birds.

Both sexes measure about 5.1 - 5.9 inches in length, with 8.3 inches wingspan and weight of 12 - 15 grams.
Adults are gray above, and dull white below, with a single faint wing bar and an eye-ring. It has a short, thick bill.
Males and females are similar in plumage.

CALL: Both sexes give short, nasal calls and rapid-fire series of raspy notes, similar to other vireos’ alarm calls.

SONG: A series of rough phrases, "hu-wee", "chu-wee", "che-weet", "chee", "ch-churr-weet", "churr", "schray".

Feeds heavily on insects and spiders, but will also feed on berries, particularly during the winter months.

Found in a variety of dry, brushy habitats, including areas of chaparral, pinyon- juniper shrublands, or sagebrush and mesquite habitats.

Breeds from the southwestern United States and northern Baja California to western Texas.

Winters in northwestern Mexico, in western Sonora state, and the southern Baja Peninsula in Baja California Sur.

The female builds a cup-shaped nest with grasses, bark and plant fiber, festooned on the outside with leaves and spider cocoons, and lined with grass, hair, and plant down.
She lays 2 - 4 white eggs with variable amount of small spots.
The eggs are incubated by both parents for about 13 days.

SOURCES:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org
https://www.sdakotabirds.com
https://en.wikipedia.org