|
The Straight-Billed Song Birds
Hutton′s Vireo
The Hutton′s Vireo of the family Vireonidae, is a small songbird which It′s most common song is a repeated chu-wee or a chew but also has other variations. Its call is a mewing chatter.
This vireo makes a hanging cup nest suspended from a fork of a tree. The female lays 3–4 eggs. The eggs are mostly white in color, with scattered brown spotting.
It feeds by gleaning insects as it deliberately moves through the upperforest canopy.
The oldest recorded Hutton′s viero was about 13 years old during the California 2006 banding operations.
Taxonomy:
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Aves
Order:
Passeriformes
Family:
Vereonidae
Genus:
Viero
Species:
V. huttoni
Common Name:
Hutton′s Viero
Conservation Status:
LC
Subspecies:
V. h. cognatus, Baja CA
V. h. huttoni, coastal SW BC, to NB-MEX
V. h. insularis, Vancouver I. BC
V. h. oberholseri, inner coastal CA
V. h. obscurus, inner Lake County, CA
V. h. parkesi, Humbolt to Marin County, CA
V. h. sierrae, Sierra Nevada, CA
V. h. unitti, Santa Catalina I. CA
Description
Unusual among other North American vireos in that Hutton′s vireos do not migrate and are resident year-round. However, there may be some altitudinal and/or short distance migration.
Length:
4 to 5 inches
Wingspan:
7.5 to 8.3 inches
Male:
The Hutton′s vireo is dull olive-gray above and below. It has a faint white eye ring and faint white wing bars. This vireo closely resembles a ruby-crowned kinglet, but has a thicker bill than that of the kinglet.
Individuals in coastal regions tend to be richer green and vellow than those in more arid inland region, which are grayer.
Female:
Habitat:
The vireo prefers deciduous-mixed forests and it particularly fond of
live oak.
Range:
Year-round:
1. Along west coast from BC-CAN, southward along the coastal areas of WA, OR, CA, and BN-MEX.
2. From southeast AZ and southwest NM south thought Northern Sierra Madre Occidental;
3. From West TX southward through the Northern Sierra Madre Oriental;
4. Across the Sierra de Vocanic mountains.
The range of the Huttron′s vireo is broken up into distinct areas separated by wide desert areas. Across these separate areas, up to 12 subspecies have been described, varying in size and plumage.
Wintering
Hutton′s vireo may join a mixed-species flock for the winter.
| 
