white eyed vireo nesting | Best Life Birding- Birdwatching Tours

By Sally Siko

One of my favorite birds I spotted while sitting by the creek at the Croatan NF in east central NC was this White eyed Vireo. It was quite easy to find this bird as he kept calling out loudly from the brush down at the waters edge. These Vireos are also easy to ID with those one of a kind, light blue eyes. I’m not sure why they’re called “white eyed” although it could be the color of the sky reflecting in their eyes that gives them that slight azure hue.

White eyed Vireos are the only members of the Vireo family that prefer to forage and nest in the understory of forests and brushy areas.
*scroll to see nest pics from last spring
In fact, you’re most likely to see them at eye level looking for a meal.They are usually found in wet areas such as along the shorelines of creeks, ponds, swamps and marshes. The dense scrub brush growing along banks of the creeks and swamps here at Croatan is a great example of their favored habitat.

These handsome birds call North Carolina home during the summer with a range that stretches from lower elevations of the Appalachian’s all the way to the coast. They’ll be here throughout mid October so you’ll have plenty of time to see them in the year ahead.
Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5

It’s always neat to encounter White eyed Vireos when out looking for birds here in central NC.
A constant trail companion, their familiar songs calling out from unseen tangles of brush remind me that I’m never truly alone when walking in the woods.
As is the case with this pair of Vireos I photographed (with a zoom lens as not to disturb the parents) earlier this week, these birds are quite active during this time of year as they hunt for a six or eight legged meal to feed their growing families.

A White eyed Vireos nest is a marvel of the delicacy of bird brained engineering.
They collect soft strips of bark and grass which is woven into a sturdy hanging basket, fastened to a branch with spiderwebs. It’s actually quite deep relative to the size of its occupants and the mother bird can disappear into the triangular shaped cup simply by ducking her head down.

Incubation of the eggs takes around 15 days and the young will typically stay in the nest for 11 days before fledging. The work is not over for the parents though since the little ones will still be taken care of up to 20 days after fledging before becoming independent.
Interestingly, fledgeling male White-eyed Vireos learn their father’s song very early in life, and may begin mimicking his call as early as one month after leaving the nest. Young White-eyed Vireos may also develop some elements of their songs by sampling the song tracks of their avian neighbors.
Pretty cool, huh?

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
#5Ds