Gray Vireo Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A small, delicately built songbird with a short, slightly hooked bill that is stouter than a warbler’s bill. The wings are fairly short (the wingtips reach only just past the base of the tail).

  Relative Size

  Slightly larger than a Yellow Warbler, smaller than a Western Kingbird.

  sparrow-sized or smaller

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 5.1-5.9 in (13-15 cm)
    • Weight: 0.4-0.5 oz (12-15 g)
    • Wingspan: 8.3 in (21 cm)

  © Brian Johnson / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  A gray bird (darkest in the wings and tail), with off-white underparts. Shows a faint single wingbar and eyering, easiest to see in fresh plumage.

• Behavior

  Hops through dense vegetation and swings nimbly around branches to pick insects from leaves and twigs. Flicks the tail frequently—an excellent clue for identification (different from the erratic tail movements of Bell’s Vireo and tail-dipping of Gray Flycatcher). Males often sing from exposed perches in early spring.
• Habitat

  Nests in desert habitats such as mesquite scrub, oak scrub, chaparral, and pinyon pine–juniper, up to about 7,800 feet elevation. Migrants and wintering birds occur in similar habitats as well as streambeds in deserts.