Vireo (genus)

Vireo
Chivi vireo (Vireo chivi)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Vireonidae
Genus: Vireo
Vieillot, 1808
Type species
Muscicapa novaeboracensis[1] = Tanagra grisea
Boddaert, 1783
Species

See text

Vireo is a genus of small passerine birds restricted to the New World. Vireos typically have dull greenish plumage (hence the name, from Latin virere, "to be green"), but some are brown or gray on the back and some have bright yellow underparts. They resemble wood warblers apart from their slightly larger size and heavier bills,[2] which in most species have a very small hook at the tip.[3] The legs are stout.[2]

Most species fall into two plumage groups: one with wing bars and yellow or white eye rings, and one with unmarked wings and eye stripes; however, the Chocó vireo has both wing bars and eye stripes.[3]

Sexes are alike in all species except for the black-capped vireo, in which the male's crown is black and the female's is gray.[3]

  1. ^ "Vireonidae". The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  2. ^ a b Howell, Stephen N. G.; Webb, Sophie (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press. pp. 614. ISBN 0-19-854012-4.
  3. ^ a b c Salaman, Paul; Barlow, Jon C. (2003). "Vireos". In Christopher Perrins (ed.). The Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Firefly Books. pp. 478–479. ISBN 1-55297-777-3.