Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

 

Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius)

Blue-headed Vireo [lateral view of adult]: Photograph Credit: Rickey Shive; Pulliam Hollow, Metcalfe County, Kentucky; 10 October 2019.

 

Abundance: Uncommon during spring, summer, and fall; Rare during winter; recorded in 23 Regional counties, 8 in Kentucky and 15 in Tennessee (Map of UCR Distribution); increasing breeder on Cumberland Plateau and in Cumberland Mountains, usually above 500 m (1700 ft), but may breed at lower elevations (i.e., as low as 400 m [1300 ft] in Icy Cove, Putnam County, Tennessee) on the escarpments of the plateau and on the lower slopes of the Cumberland Mountains (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Summer Resident; increasing Visitor during winter (6 records) and consequently likely to achieve Permanent Resident status at some point in the future; photograph (see above)..

Regional High Count: 46 (17 April 2010; Frozen Head State Natural Area, Morgan County, Tennessee; Scott G. Somershoe); SBC/SBB High Count: 44 (7 May 2011; Cumberland County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob.).

Out-of-Season (Winter) Records: 

21 February 1998 (1) Meadow Creek area east of Monterey on Rt. 62, Putnam County, Tennessee (Richard W. Simmers, Jr.; Stedman 2006–2012).

10 January 2001 (1) Flat Rock Ridge Rd., northeast of Whitley City, McCreary County, Kentucky (Steven Thomas and W. Moore; Palmer-Ball 2003).

28 December 2003 (1) Edgar Evins State Park, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Casteel 2004b), a CBC (count week) record.

27 December 2005 (1) Appalachian Center for Craft, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Casteel 2006b), a CBC record.

21 December 2009 (1) near end of Pollard Cemetery Rd., White County, Tennessee (Scott G. Somershoe, Edmund K. LeGrand), a CBC record.

21 December 2013 (1) Appalachian Center for Craft, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Trevor Foster, Todd Foster), a CBC record.

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: 21 February 1998 (Putnam County, Tennessee; Richard W. Simmers, Jr.).

    Late Fall: 10 January 2001 (McCreary County, Kentucky; Steven Thomas and W. Moore).

    Note: The earliest arriving and latest departing of the Regional vireos, the Blue-head usually arrives by mid-March and departs by early to mid-November. Regional dates of earliest reported arrival and latest reported departure for 20022011 follow:

Year Early Spring Arrival Late Fall Departure
2002 15 March 7 November
2003 18 March 1 November *
2004 17 March 14 November
2005 15 March 9 November *
2006 8 March 1 November
2007 19 March 16 November
2008 20 March 28 November
2009 17 March 28 October *
2010 23 March 2 November
2011 13 March 22 October

* But see also Out-of-Season (Winter) Records (above).

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent).

Habitat: Mixed forests of the Cumberland Plateau and Cumberland Mountains generally harbor the densest populations of Blue-heads, but this vireo is capable of sustaining moderately dense populations at sites with mainly or exclusively deciduous forest cover, as is the case at Frozen Head State Natural Area, Morgan County, Tennessee.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 3 (of 125) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 5 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, indicating that this vireo was Very Uncommon during both years in the habitats where YardWatch data were collected, but few checklists were submitted from sites on the Cumberland Plateau during those years.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

County Dates when Foray Conducted Total Blocks
in County *
Total Blocks in which
Blue-headed Vireo
Recorded
Total Individuals
Recorded
         
Adair 816 June 2014 46 0 0
Barren 1–6 June 2013 54 0 0
Clinton 12–14 June 2009 24 1 1
Cumberland 1620 June 2014 35 0 0
McCreary 30 May5 Jun 2011 51 28 68
Metcalfe 812 June 2013 32 0 0
Monroe 1–12 June 2015 35 0 0
Pulaski 511 June 2010 72 10 26
Russell 1316, 2629 June 2012 31 0 0
Wayne 28 May3 June 2012 54 4 6
         
Kentucky   434 (408) 43 (9.9%) 101
         
Bledsoe 1824 June 2012 48 13 16
Clay 12–15 June 2010 30 2 2
Cumberland 29 May4 June 2010 75 35 103
DeKalb 2326 May 2008 40 0 0
Fentress 1117 June 2012 55 9 12
Jackson 29 May1 Jun 2009 40 0 0
Macon 1722 June 2013 32 0 0
Morgan 1–8 June 2014 58 19 38
Overton 2329 May 2011 47 9 16
Pickett 2225 May 2009 24 6 14
Putnam 6–12 June 2011 46 5 15
Scott 924 June 2016 62 12 13
Smith 1525 June 2015 37 0 0
Van Buren 13–15 June 2011 33 8 13
Warren 1–10 June 2016 47 0 0
White 1–6 June 2015 50 3 4
         
Tennessee   724 (651) 121 (16.7%) 246
         
Region   1158 (c. 1059) 154 (13.3%) 347

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

RemarksA few individuals probably overwinter, especially during winters when an abundant soft mast crop is available, but no certain evidence to that effect is currently available.

    Data supporting this species' Regional (and continental) population increase derive from several sources. Probably the best Regional source involves point counts conducted in the Obed Wild and Scenic River, mainly Morgan County, Tennessee (Point Counts in OWSR), where numbers of Blue-heads approximately doubled from 1998 to 2006, an increase more dramatic even than the increase in the Blue-head's continental population as measured by Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data (Pardieck and Sauer 2000).  Regional BBS data reflect at best a quite small increase in this species' population during the past decade or so (Regional BBS data).  Data from Regional Spring Bird Counts reveal recent increased numbers of this vireo (Regional SBC data), but the increase is partly a function of increased numbers of counts being conducted and partly a function of an increase in numbers of observers counting (as in the case of Cumberland County, Tennessee); however, the somewhat irregular increase in Putnam County, Tennessee, is perhaps reflective of an actual increase in the number of Blue-heads being counted in that county.

    The Blue-head's Regional range expansion is probably altitudinal at least in part, with breeding populations on the plateau and on the higher slopes of the Cumberland Mountains expanding downslope to accommodate the species' population increase.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Barren Metcalfe Adair Russell Pulaski
Monroe Cumberland Clinton Wayne McCreary
Macon Clay Pickett Fentress Scott
Smith Jackson Overton Putnam Morgan
DeKalb White Cumberland
Warren Van Buren Bledsoe

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Burgess Falls SP, Putnam/White Counties, TN Barren River Lake SP, Barren County, KY
Cumberland Mountain SP, Cumberland County, TN General Burnside Island SP, Pulaski County, KY
Edgar Evins SP, DeKalb County, TN  
Fall Creek Falls SP, Bledsoe/Van Buren Counties, TN Pulaski County Park, Pulaski County, KY
Frozen Head SNA, Morgan County, TN Waitsboro Recreation Area, Pulaski County, KY
Rock Island SP, Warren/White Counties, TN  
Standing Stone SP, Overton County, TN Big South Fork NRRA, KY and TN
   
Cane Creek Park, Putnam County, TN  
Roaring River Recreation Area, Jackson County, TN  

Literature Cited