The Four Keys to ID
- Size & Shape
A small vireo with a large head, short bill, rather short wings, and a moderately long tail.
Relative Size
Larger than a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, smaller than a Cassin’s Vireo.
sparrow-sized or smallerMeasurements
- Both Sexes
- Length: 3.9-4.7 in (10-12 cm)
- Weight: 0.3-0.5 oz (9-15 g)
- Wingspan: 7.5-8.3 in (19-21 cm)
© Scott Olmstead / Macaulay Library
- Color Pattern
Grayish olive above, pale gray below (sometimes with pale olive tones to the flanks). The wings are darker with two wingbars. The face shows an incomplete eyering, thicker in front of and behind the eye (similar to the Ruby-crowned Kinglet’s face pattern).
© Tim Lenz / Macaulay Library - Behavior
Forages slowly along branches at middle heights and above, searching for insects, which it captures by picking from twigs and leaves or by hover-gleaning. During the nonbreeding season, pairs join large mixed flocks of woodland songbirds.
- Habitat
Lives year-round in evergreen oak, coniferous, and mixed forests, as well as locally in stream corridors and in chaparral on offshore islands.
© Bryan Calk / Macaulay Library
Regional Differences
Twelve subspecies have been named. They differ in plumage tones, with coastal subspecies more richly colored (greenish) and interior subspecies from arid environments paler (more grayish).
