Vireo

The vireos /ˈvɪriz/ make up a family, Vireonidae, of small to medium-sized passerine birds found in the New World (Canada to Argentina, including Bermuda and the West Indies) and Southeast Asia. "Vireo" is a Latin word referring to a green migratory bird, perhaps the female golden oriole, possibly the European greenfinch.[1][2]

Vireos
Yellow-throated vireo (Vireo flavifrons)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Superfamily: Orioloidea
Family: Vireonidae
Swainson, 1837
Genera

They are typically dull-plumaged and greenish in color, the smaller species resembling wood warblers apart from their heavier bills. They range in size from the Chocó vireo, dwarf vireo and lesser greenlet, all at around 10 cm and 8g, to the peppershrikes and shrike-vireos at up to 17 cm and 40g.[3]

Distribution and habitat

Most species are found in Middle America and northern South America. Thirteen species of true vireos occur farther north, in the United States, Bermuda[4] and Canada; of these all but Hutton's vireo are migratory. Members of the family seldom fly long distances except in migration.[5] They inhabit forest environments, with different species preferring forest canopies, undergrowth, or mangrove swamps.[3]

A few species in the genus Vireo have appeared on the eastern side of the Atlantic as vagrants to the Western Palearctic.[6]

Behaviour

The resident species occur in pairs or family groups that maintain territories all year (except Hutton's vireo, which joins mixed feeding flocks). Most of the migrants defend winter territories against conspecifics. The exceptions are the complex comprising the red-eyed vireo, the yellow-green vireo, the black-whiskered vireo, and the Yucatan vireo, which winter in small wandering flocks.[5]

Voice

The song of the rufous-browed peppershrike is described as a whistled phrase with the rhythm Do you wash every week?

Males of most species are persistent singers. Songs are usually rather simple, monotonous in some species of the Caribbean littoral and islands, and most elaborate and pleasant to human ears in the Chocó vireo and the peppershrikes.[5]

Breeding

The nests of many tropical species are unknown. Of those that are known, all build a cup-shaped nest that hangs from branches. The female does most of the incubation, spelled by the male except in the red-eyed vireo complex.[5]

Feeding

All members of the family eat some fruit but mostly insects and other arthropods. They take prey from leaves and branches; true vireos also flycatch, and the gray vireo takes 5 percent of its prey from the ground.[5]

Systematics

A white-eyed vireo (Vireo griseus bermudianus) in Bermuda

The six genera of these birds make up the family Vireonidae, and are believed to be related to the crow-like birds in family Corvidae and the shrikes in family Laniidae. Recent biochemical studies have identified two babbler genera (Pteruthius and Erpornis) which may be Old World members of this family.[7] Observers have commented on the vireo-like behaviour of the Pteruthius shrike-babblers, but apparently no-one suspected the biogeographically unlikely possibility of vireo relatives in Asia.

The family can be conveniently though perhaps inaccurately categorised by genus as the true vireos, the greenlets, the shrike-vireos and the peppershrikes. Preliminary genetic studies by Johnson et al. revealed large interspecific genetic distances between clades within Vireo and Hylophilus of a similar magnitude to differences between Cyclarhis and Vireolanius. Furthermore, some vireo and greenlet species may be closer to the peppershrikes than to their respective congeners. A more comprehensive study may reveal this family to be considerably undersplit at both the generic and species level.

Species in taxonomic order

ImageGenusSpecies
Pteruthius - shrike-babblers[7] Swainson, 1832
  • Green shrike-babbler, Pteruthius xanthochlorus
  • Black-eared shrike-babbler, Pteruthius melanotis
  • Black-headed shrike-babbler, Pteruthius rufiventer
  • White-browed shrike-babbler, Pteruthius aeralatus
  • Pied shrike-babbler, Pteruthius flaviscapis
  • Clicking shrike-babbler, Pteruthius intermedius
  • Trilling shrike-babbler, Pteruthius aenobarbus
Erpornis [8] Hodgson, 1844
Cyclarhis Swainson, 1824, the peppershrikes
Vireolanius Bonaparte, 1850, the shrike-vireos
  • Chestnut-sided shrike-vireo, Vireolanius melitophrys
  • Green shrike-vireo, Vireolanius pulchellus
  • Yellow-browed shrike-vireo, Vireolanius eximius
  • Slaty-capped shrike-vireo, Vireolanius leucotis
Hylophilus Temminck, 1822
  • Grey-eyed greenlet, Hylophilus amaurocephalus
  • Rufous-crowned greenlet, Hylophilus poicilotis
  • Olivaceous greenlet, Hylophilus olivaceus
  • Ashy-headed greenlet, Hylophilus pectoralis
  • Brown-headed greenlet, Hylophilus brunneiceps
  • Lemon-chested greenlet, Hylophilus thoracicus
  • Scrub greenlet, Hylophilus flavipes
  • Grey-chested greenlet, Hylophilus semicinereus
Tunchiornis Slager & Klicka, 2014
Pachysylvia Bonaparte, 1850
  • Lesser greenlet, Pachysylvia decurtata
  • Dusky-capped greenlet, Pachysylvia hypoxantha
  • Buff-cheeked greenlet, Pachysylvia muscicapina
  • Golden-fronted greenlet, Pachysylvia aurantiifrons
  • Rufous-naped greenlet, Pachysylvia semibrunnea
Vireo Vieillot, 1808, the true vireos.
  • The "hypochryseus" group
    • Golden vireo, Vireo hypochryseus
  • The "olivaceous" group.
    • Yellow-green vireo, Vireo flavoviridis (sometimes included in V. olivaceus)
    • Red-eyed vireo, Vireo olivaceus
    • Yucatan vireo, Vireo magister
    • Black-whiskered vireo, Vireo altiloquus
    • Chivi vireo, Vireo chivi
    • Noronha vireo, Vireo gracilirostris
  • The "gilvus" group.
  • The "eye-ringed" group.
    • Hutton's vireo, Vireo huttoni
    • Gray vireo, Vireo vicinior
    • Yellow-throated vireo, Vireo flavifrons
    • Yellow-winged vireo, Vireo carmioli
    • Choco vireo, Vireo masteri
    • Blue-headed vireo, Vireo solitarius
    • Cassin's vireo, Vireo cassinii
    • Plumbeous vireo, Vireo plumbeus
    • Blue Mountain vireo, Vireo osburni
    • Flat-billed vireo, Vireo nanus
    • Mangrove vireo, Vireo pallens
    • Providencia vireo, Vireo approximans
    • Cozumel vireo, Vireo bairdi
    • San Andres vireo, Vireo caribaeus
    • White-eyed vireo, Vireo griseus
    • Thick-billed vireo, Vireo crassirostris
    • Jamaican vireo, Vireo modestus
    • Cuban vireo, Vireo gundlachii
    • Bell's vireo, Vireo bellii
    • Puerto Rican vireo, Vireo latimeri
    • Black-capped vireo, Vireo atricapilla
    • Dwarf vireo, Vireo nelsoni
    • Slaty vireo, Vireo brevipennis

References

  1. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 402. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  2. "Vireo". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  3. Forshaw, Joseph & Parkes, Kenneth C. 1991. Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds, p. 209. Merehurst Press, London. ISBN 1-85391-186-0
  4. White-eyed vireo, Audubon Society of Bermuda
  5. Salaman, Paul & Barlow, Jon C. 2003. Vireos. Pp. 478–479 in; Perrins, C. ed. The Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Firefly Books, Oxford. ISBN 1-55297-777-3
  6. "Western Palearctic". Avibase. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  7. Reddy, Sushma & Cracraft, Joel (2007): Old World Shrike-babblers (Pteruthius) belong with New World Vireos (Vireonidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 44 (3): 1352–1357. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.02.023
  8. Barker, F. Keith; Cibois, Alice; Schikler, Peter A.; Feinstein, Julie & Cracraft, Joel (2004): "Phylogeny and diversification of the largest avian radiation." PNAS 101(30): 11040-11045. doi:10.1073/pnas.0401892101 PMID 15263073 Supporting information
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