Birdsong for the
Curious Naturalist

Blue-headed vireo

Chapter 10: More birds! More Sounds!
Subchapter: More birds! More Sounds!—Americas
From page 169 in the book.

We have had the opportunity to compare several vireos, including the white-eyed, Bell's, yellow-throated, Philadelphia, red-eyed, and warbling. The white-eyed typically sings with eventual variety, offering one song many times before switching to another. The Bell's and yellow-throated, and probably the Philadelphia, sing in packages. The red-eye tends to run through his entire repertoire before repeating himself. The songs of the warbling vireo are long and complex, making it difficult to hear any patterns.

Here's another vireo opportunity. How does the blue-headed vireo fit in with other vireos? What can you hear? What can you see in Raven Lite? How many different songs does he sing?

♫705. Here is an early migrant in northern Michigan, and here is my vocal summary at the end of the recording: "OK, Mr. Blue-headed vireo wins. He keeps moving north on me, and I walk to keep up, and every once in a while he goes into this little sputtering, singing routine. It's very nice. I might have recorded three of them [at 2:44, 6:58, 12:08]. Many times he was too distant, other times too close. It will be a mixed medley of songs from that bird. The key thing was that I let the recorder run so that I got a continuous recording of what he was doing for about 13 minutes." Just how does he deliver his song repertoire? April 23, 2012. Lewiston, Michigan. (13:00).