A few more curious facts about the White-eyed Vireo, straight from one of my favorite sources – you can find more here at All About Birds:
- Both the male and the female White-eyed Vireo sing on the wintering grounds, but only the male sings on the breeding grounds.
- In Florida, scientists found a 400,000-year-old wing bone from a White-eyed Vireo from the late Pleistocene. It is North America’s only fossil record for the whole vireo family.
- The White-eyed Vireo bathes by rubbing its body against dewy foliage in the morning.
Birder's Journey 
Absolutely delightful – the subtle colours and markings are exquisite. I had not heard of vireos before.
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Although I’d heard of them, I don’t really know whether I’ve ever seen one before. This guy was very cooperative!
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Yep, that’s a White-eyed Vireo! If you take a few minutes to learn it’s call you’ll never forget it. And you’ll also realize they are all about, but usually unseen. Quirky little birds. Great post and photo. William
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Thanks so very much, William, for the verification, and for the nice comments! I was really rather struck by how he sat still a bit longer than most warblers do, that was a surprise!☺️
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Thanks for all the information and nice captures. An impossible little guy to photo…at least for me 🤣🤣
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You’re welcome, Ted. When I saw my pictures after I got home, I was really surprised that I captured him just sitting there.
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I’ve never seen one how wonderful that you have! It’s a cutie. Thanks for the fun facts.
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Glad you liked him, Deborah! I may have seen them before without even realizing it. He is a cutie, isn’t he?
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How delightful that you have them year-round in FL, BJ. I appreciated the link. We don’t have the white-eyed vireo in Calif., though we have other vireos. Great photo and great fun.
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Thank you, Jet! It’s honestly never been clear to me what the difference is between Vireos and Warblers, but I’m committed to learning more about the little birds 😉
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Wonderful capture. We have vireos living at The Holler but they are a severely threatened species here.
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How interesting, Cindy. Are they threatened in your area because of habitat loss? Or some other reason?
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Wonderfully crisp photo!
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You’re so kind, Belinda! There’s just something about that white eye that stands right out.
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Nice shot!
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Thank you, Kathy! I’ve been enjoying your marvelous pictures from up near Titusville… Though I never quite catch up with everybody’s posts as frequently as I would like to!
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Excellent capture, Carol! You should make a list of “lifers” already and post it! Congratulations! 🙂
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Thanks, HJ! There’s a cool thought!☺️
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I wouldn’t know one vireo from another but I do know a nice shot when I see one. Lovely, Carol, and glad to see in the comment above that you nailed the ID. 🙂
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Very kind of you, Steve. I confess that I was pretty relieved to find out that I was actually correct about what kind of a bird it was! 😅
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A beautiful capture BJ.
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Thank you so much, AB! It was a pleasure to spot him.
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Regarding the Burroughs quotation in your masthead, I just chanced across a somewhat related thought by the American painter Robert Henri: “Reveal the spirit you have about the thing, not the materials you are going to paint. Reality does not exist in material things. Rather paint the flying spirit of the bird than its feathers.” The sentiment was recorded in the detailed notes taken by a student in one of his classes.” It’s the second paragraph on p. 275 at
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Art_Spirit/i50gAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Paint+the+flying+spirit+of+the+bird,+rather+than+its+feathers&pg=PA275&printsec=frontcover
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Beautifully written, and, yes, definitely a similar notion. Thank you so much for passing this on, Steve!
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Awesome capture, Carol! They are such a pretty bird and that eye, I love it!!
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Thanks, Donna! I feel the same about this bird’s eye – a real standout feature!
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Good catch. You were about 10 miles from our house. Circle B is a great place for birdwatching.
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Wow, how interesting that you live so near Circle B, Lee! Lucky you – we love that place but it takes us about 3 hours to get there. So you’re also not far from Lake Apopka?
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Never birded there. My birding has slowed down to places I can use my walker. And my backyard. 👍😀
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Lovely image of a beautiful bird.
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I’m glad you enjoyed him, Tom. Yes, so attractive and that special eye gives him an extra special appearance!
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A gorgeous portrait. So what other species has white eyes?
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Thank you, Tanja! According to the iBird Plus app: ‘The other, the Wrentit, is only found in the westernmost part of the country.’
I haven’t really researched this in other sources, but I have seen other birds described as having ‘pale’ eyes. 😉
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Thank you for letting me know. I have seen this vireo exactly once in my life, but remember those whites eyes very well.
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P.S. That source was referring only to North America.
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Oops, more accurately, in the U.S.
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What a beauty!
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