Shrike-babblers, Erpornis and vireos | Vireonidae

Vireo's | Vireos

Vireos are small to medium-sized songbirds found only in the Americas; in Mexico and Central America the family numbers 30 species. Most are true vireos (Vireo): greenish or grey above, pale below, with a stouter bill than a warbler's and a small hook at the tip, and with the head and eye-stripe pattern as the main feature. Alongside them live the small, warbler-like greenlets (Hylophilus, Pachysylvia, Tunchiornis), the bright green shrike-vireos (Vireolanius) of the high canopy and Rufous-browed Peppershrike (Cyclarhis) with its heavy, strongly hooked bill. Some species are resident; others, such as White-eyed and Red-eyed Vireo, come from the north to winter here or pass through, and Yellow-green Vireo breeds here in summer and then moves south. They move slowly and deliberately through the foliage, plucking caterpillars and other insects from the leaves and outside the breeding season also eating berries and small fruit. The nest is a deep, cup-shaped structure slung in a fork. They sing all day long, even in the midday heat.