Yellow-throated Vireo
Vireo flavifrons
Content and photos by James Giroux
I live in Southwest Austin on a greenbelt, and I get a pretty good sampling of migrants and residents around my yard. My yardlist boasts over 20 species of warblers over the last 20 years. But one of the birds that I don’t have on my yardlist is the Yellow-throated Vireo. This has puzzled me, because when I go to east Texas to visit my mom, they are fairly common. They also seem to be fairly common in several counties just west of Austin. Mirasol Ranch for instance, part of which is in Travis County. But never in my yard. People do report them in Austin, but they are not common around the city itself. In doing research for this article, I learned that these vireos highly prefer tracts of forest that are at least 250 acres. So, we might get a few strays in the city, but these birds prefer true forests.
As a general rule, the vireo family is not very colorful. But the Yellow-throated Vireo is an exception. It is somewhat similar to a female Black-throated Green Warbler, with its gray wings, white wing bars, green crown and back. But the vireo has the yellow throat, yellow spectacles, and larger bill, and is much “chunkier” than the warbler.
Top to bottom: Female Black-throated Green, Chris Wood – Macaulay Library, Warbler Yellow-throated Vireo
The range of the Yellow-throated Vireo pretty closely mirrors the range of the eastern forests of the United States. You won’t find this bird on the Great Plains.
Unlike most North American songbirds, both the male and female Yellow-throated Vireos participate in incubation and brooding. And that is generally the case for all the vireos.
As you might expect, the diet of this bird consists of insects and spiders with all types of caterpillars being favorites. They hunt very differently from warblers, being much more slow and deliberate in their movements. As such, they are easier to follow and watch with binoculars. You will probably hear one before you see it. If you know the Red-eyed vireo song, the Yellow-throated’s song is slower and more gravelly-voiced. It has been described to me as sounding like a Red-eyed with a sore throat.
Once you spot this bird, it will probably give you good long looks. Look and listen for it in the piney woods of east Texas, and in counties just west of Travis county. People do see them in Austin, but I’m still looking.
Sources:
https://www.fws.gov/program/neotropical-migratory-bird-conservation
