See red-eyed vireo photos, and learn how to establish their songs and nests. Plus study their vary and what they eat.
What Does a Purple-Eyed Vireo Look Like?

Plain colours—olive above, white beneath, with simply a few black stripes on the face—make a red-eyed vireo onerous to identify within the treetops. Its plumage blends with the inexperienced canopies of deciduous forests throughout summer time.
Meet the vireo chicken household: candy summer time singers.
Juvenile Purple-Eyed Vireo
Immature red-eyed vireos have brown irises that flip various shades of purple throughout their first winter.
Uncover extra attractive inexperienced birds that you simply may see.
Purple-Eyed Vireo Nest
“I’ve searched my area information and can’t establish this chicken and its distinctive nest that I noticed from my again deck. Are you able to assist me establish it?” asks Birds & Blooms reader Janet Holdmann of Butler, Wisconsin.
Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman: That’s a positive chicken and nest to see out of your again deck! It’s a red-eyed vireo, however it is perhaps onerous to seek out within the ebook as a result of the consequences of lighting are altering its look on this photograph. A whole lot of mild is being mirrored onto the chicken from the encompassing leaves, making it appear much more yellowish than it truly is. We’re figuring out it by the form of the invoice and sample of the face. The nest construction is typical, too. A vireo nest is formed like somewhat pouch, suspended from twigs by its edges.
Uncover how orioles weave elaborate nests.
Purple-Eyed Vireo Music
“This chicken (above) nested close to a cabin the place we have been staying. What form is it?” asks Sandra Weber of Mohnton, Pennsylvania.
George Harrison: Your thriller chicken is a red-eyed vireo, thought-about by some because the commonest summer time chicken in North America. But red-eyed vireos are heard extra typically than they’re seen. Their tune, see-me-here-I-am-where-are you over and over, might grow to be monotonous, however it’s a very important sound of the recent summer time woodlands all through a lot of the nation.
Vireos are recognized for his or her songs. They sing brief phrases in a robin-like tone.
Meet extra of essentially the most musical songbirds in America.
What Do Purple-Eyed Vireos Eat?
These birds nearly by no means go to chicken feeders, however they could cease by your chicken bathtub. Purple-eyed vireos feed on bugs amongst tree leaves, typically singing constantly as they transfer.
To draw them, develop native vegetation that entice the caterpillars they like to eat. In fall, vireos feed on berry bushes and bushes.
“Though the red-eyed vireo is a typical summer time resident right here, it’s a uncommon deal with to really spot one. This chicken (above) was in a wooded space close to my residence, munching on one thing yellow for breakfast,” says Liz Tabb of Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
Vary and Habitat
These birds are widespread throughout the japanese United States and most of southern Canada throughout the summer time breeding season. Purple-eyed vireos stay primarily in deciduous forests, however you might hear them in populated areas with loads of mature bushes. They spend winter within the tropics.
“I stay on an enormous migration path for warblers and different birds. Seeing red-eyed vireos is all the time a spotlight for me. After two weeks of looking out, I discovered what I’d been in search of. This vireo (above) flew off as rapidly because it got here, however I obtained a couple of pictures of it within the second,” says Daniel Draudt of Buffalo, New York.
Purple-Eyed Vireo Photos
“I went on a pontoon experience with two of my favourite chicken nerd pals. Whereas wanting up into the bushes at nice blue herons, I noticed some stunning autumn colours within the criminal of a tree alongside the shore. As I used to be interested by how a chicken would make the photograph extra great, this little red-eyed vireo (above) confirmed up and obliged,” says Heather Farrell of Streator, Illinois.
“One June morning I used to be awake at 5 a.m. and determined to go for stroll on the Celery Farm in Allendale, New Jersey, (a well known birding hotspot in my space). I had some fortunate pictures of a fantastic blue heron, nice egret, a yellow warbler, and different normal suspects. But it surely was this red-eyed vireo (above) on a low department that caught my eye. I like this beautiful little chicken that all the time appears to stay round on the finish of warbler season,” says Kerri Wallace.
“I took this {photograph} in Lake County, Illinois, throughout fall migration. There have been many birds feasting on the dogwood berries, together with this stunning red-eyed vireo. I like this {photograph} as a result of I managed to seize the chicken with a berry in its invoice. Additionally, I like how it’s framed by the foliage on this native shrub,” says Emma England.
Subsequent, discover out what warblers eat and the way to entice them.