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Home/Species/ Black-whiskered Vireo

Vireo altiloquus

(Vieillot, 1808)

Black-whiskered Vireo

G5Secure Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105089
Element CodeABPBW01250
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyVireonidae
GenusVireo
Other Common Names
Juruviara-Barbuda (PT) Viréo à moustaches (FR) Vireo Bigotudo (ES)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
May constitute a superspecies with V. olivaceus, V. gracilirostris, V. flavoviridis, and V. magister (AOU 1998). Banks and Browning (1995) rejected the use of the name V. calidris for this species. See Johnson et al. (1988) and Murray et al. (1994) for analyses of the phylogenetic relationships among vireos.
Conservation Status
Review Date1996-12-03
Change Date1996-12-03
Range Extent Comments
BREEDING: central and southern Florida, Bahamas, Antilles, and other Caribbean islands. NON-BREEDING: South America (to northeastern Colombia, northeastern Peru, northern Brazil [south to southern bank of Amazon in central Amazonia], and Guyana, rarely Panama); some may overwinter in West Indies (Raffaele 1983).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Mangroves, open woods, mango and avocado groves, residential areas. In migration and winter also lowland forest, woodland, scrub, and partly open situations with scattered trees. Mostly in mangroves in Florida. In upper canopy at El Verde, Puerto Rico. Sometimes in pine plantations in Puerto Rico (Collazo and Bonilla 1988). Jamaica: common in most of lowland and midlevel forest, fairly common in lower montane forest, uncommon at higher elevations; present but scarce in mangroves and ruinate lowland woodland, fairly common in wooded cultivation (Lack 1976); highest densities in dry and wet limestone forests (Cruz 1980). Nests in fork of slender twigs in tree or shrub about 2-4 m above ground or water.

Ecology

Population density was estimated at 120-136 per 40 ha in Luquillo Forest, Puerto Rico (Recher and Recher 1966). Transect counts at Maricao forest (Puerto Rico) yielded density estimates of 2-12 per 40 ha in different habitats (Cruz and Delannoy 1984). In Jamaica, highest June densities 90-95 per 40 ha in optimal habitat (Cruz 1980).

Reproduction

Eggs laid May-June in Florida and Puerto Rico. Clutch size 2-3. Common host for shiny cowbird in some areas (Cruz et al. 1989).
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest - HardwoodForest - MixedWoodland - HardwoodWoodland - MixedSuburban/orchard
Palustrine Habitats
FORESTED WETLANDRiparian
Other Nations (1)
United StatesN3B
ProvinceRankNative
FloridaS3Yes
AlabamaSNAYes
Roadless Areas (2)
Puerto Rico (2)
AreaForestAcres
El Toro AreaCaribbean National Forest12,584
Mameyes AreaCaribbean National Forest11,150
References (42)
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  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, <i>Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus</i>. Condor 73:287-302.
  4. Banks, R. C., and M. R. Browning. 1995. Comments on the status of revived old names for some North American birds. Auk 112:633-648.
  5. Barlow, J.C. 1980. Patterns of ecological interactions among migrant and resident vireos on the wintering grounds. Pages 79-107 in A. Keast and E.S. Morton, editors. Migrant birds in the neotropics: ecology, distribution, and conservation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.
  6. Bent, A.C. 1950. Life histories of North American wagtails, shrikes, vireos, and their allies. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 197. Washington, D.C.
  7. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  8. Braun, M. J., D. W. Finch, M. B. Robbins, and B. K. Schmidt. 2000. A field checklist of the birds of Guyana. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
  9. Collazo, J. A., and G. I. Bonilla-Martinez. 1988. Comparacion de la riqueza de aves entre plantaciones de pino hondureno (<i>Pinus caribea</i>) y areas de bosque nativo en el Bosque Estatal de Carite, Cayey, Puerto Rico. Caribbean J. Sci. 24:1-10.
  10. Cruz, A. 1974. Feeding assemblages of Jamaican birds. Condor 76:103-107.
  11. Cruz, A. 1980. Feeding ecology of the black-whiskered vireo and associated gleaning birds in Jamaica. Wilson Bull. 92:40-52.
  12. Cruz, A., and C. A. Delannoy. 1984a. Ecology of the elfin woods warbler (DENDROICA ANGELAE). I. Distribution, habitat usage, and population densities. Caribbean J. Sci. 20: 89-96.
  13. Cruz, A., J. W. Wiley, T. K. Nakamura, and W. Post. 1989. The shiny cowbird in the West Indian region--biogeographical and ecological implications. Pages 519-540 in C. A. Woods, ed. Biogeography of the West Indies, Sandhill Crane Press, Gainesville, Florida.
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  20. Lack, D. 1976. Island biology illustrated by the land birds of Jamaica. Studies in Ecology, Vol. 3. Univ. California Press, Berkeley. 445 pp.
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  33. Schulenberg, T. S. and P. Salaman. 2003. Specimen record of Black-whiskered Vireo Vireo altiloquus in Peru is erroneous. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 123:57-59.
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