Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)

Red-eyed Vireo [lateral view of adult]: Photograph Credit: copyright Dave Hawkins Photography, Nashville, Tennessee; Edgar Evins State Rustic Park, DeKalb County, Tennessee; 25 May 2008.

Abundance: Common (even abundant) during late spring and summer; Fairly Common early fall, becoming Uncommon early through mid-October and Very Uncommon mid-October through late October; recorded in all Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); the breeding population is large but possibly decreasing—see Remarks [below] and see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Summer Resident; at the beginning (spring) and ending (fall) of the breeding season, a goodly part of the Red-eye population consists of migrants passing through the Region northward to other parts of the species' breeding range during spring or southward to the species' wintering range during fall, but no method of determining the percentage of the vireo population that belongs in the "migrant only" category during the migration seasons has been, or is soon likely to be, forthcoming; specimen (3 June 1938; Coopersville, Wayne County, Kentucky; W. M. Perrygo; Wetmore 1940); photograph (above ).

Regional High Count and SBC/SBB High Count: 691 (13 May 2006; Putnam County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob.; Hoff 2006e); FBC/FBB High Count: 23 (15 September 2007; Putnam County, Tennessee [FBC]; m. ob.).

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: 5 April 1999 (Scott County, Tennessee; M. Nell Moore; Stedman and Stedman 2002).

    Late Fall: 24 October 2004 (Pickett County, Tennessee; Stephen J. Stedman).

    Note: Arrival usually widespread by 20 April; departure usually mostly complete by 5 October.  Arrival usually about one month later than the arrival of the Blue-headed Vireo and about one week later than that of the Yellow-throated Vireo, each of which may be confused with the Red-eye if identification is based solely on the song of the latter species. Departure usually a month earlier than the departure of the Blue-head and a week or so earlier than that of the Yellow-throated Vireo.  Regional dates of earliest reported spring arrival and latest reported fall departure for the years 2002–2011 follow:

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). Clearly a quite common breeder, but confirmed breeding evidence seldom obtained due to extremely reclusive breeding behavior of this vireo.  Nests usually constructed quite low (i.e., at heights of 3–5 m) in mid-canopy, as was the case for a nest found 15–16 June 2005 at the Casey Cove Campground, Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee, illustrated in this photo (Stephen J. Stedman [using Carol D. Williams' camera]; 15 June 2005).

Habitat: Varied; most common in mature, somewhat mesic deciduous forest, but also present fairly commonly in mixed forest.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 25 (of 125) monthly check-lists during 2003 and 52 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, leading to a YardWatch frequency classification of Fairly Common in each instance; since many YardWatch check-lists were generated at urban and suburban sites, this classification is an expected one, but if more check-lists had been obtained from yards located in rural woodlands, the registration rate for this species would probably have been higher and therefore the frequency classification for the vireo would probably have been Common.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows below (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):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total number of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is fewer 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 number of blocks in the Region is actually fewer than the sum of the blocks in the two states. However, the inflated numbers are used in the table above.

Remarks: The Red-eye is by far the most common breeding songbird inhabiting the Region's deciduous forests, and it usually emerges as the most common breeding songbird of mixed forests as well.  A walk through such forests in May or June will seldom take the carefully listening observer out of earshot of all singing Red-eyes, even during mid-day.  This condition is easily observable in the many large parks found throughout the Region, especially those located on the Cumberland Plateau, where counts of 50+ Red-eyes during a half-day's hiking/birding are quite the norm.  One site where another species equals or slightly surpasses the Red-eye in frequency of occurrence is along Divide Rd. in Fentress, Pickett, and Scott counties, TN.  At this site, Tennessee Breeding Bird Atlas data (1986–1991) and Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area BBS data (1997–2001) revealed that Ovenbirds were, and undoubtedly still are, present with sufficient frequency to be the most commonly encountered songbird in the woodlands adjacent to the road, slightly surpassing the Red-eye in that regard (Stedman and Stedman 2002).  Such instances are rare, however, and do little to dislodge the Red-eye from its place of priority as the most abundantly and/or frequently occurring breeding songbird of Regional woodlands.

    Red-eye abundance during spring is well indicated by counts of 200+ accumulated at least once in three Regional counties—Adair, KY, McCreary, KY, and Pulaski, KY—during Spring Bird Counts, by counts of 300+ accumulated at least once in three Regional counties—DeKalb, TN, Jackson, TN, and White, TN—during Spring Bird Counts, by a count of 500+ accumulated once in one county—Cumberland, TN—during a Spring Bird Count, and by counts of 600+ accumulated several times in one county—Putnam, TN—during Spring Bird Counts (Regional SBC data).  Abundance during summer is also well indicated by data from various bird-monitoring surveys conducted Regionally; see next paragraph for details.  Abundance during fall is probably poorly indicated by the Regional FBC data, as this species becomes relatively quiet by mid-August and is seldom detected in large numbers thereafter, although it is probably Fairly Common through mid-September.

    Some breeding season data suggest a modestly worrisome downward trend in the Regional breeding population, but other summer data do not support that suggestion. In the former category are data from the Regional BBSs 1998-2007 displaying a recent and quite modest downward trend, as well as data from BSFNRRA BBSs 1997-2006 displaying a somewhat more acute and longer term downward trend (possibly linked to changes in the forests of that park caused by the severe outbreak of southern pine beetles 1999–2003).  In the latter category are data from the Summer Roadside Survey in Putnam County 1991–2006 that are equivocal with regard to trends, while data from the White County Forays indicate an apparent increase in the population of Red-eyed Vireos in that county from 1982 to 2007 (see also Foray Results [above]).

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.

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.

Literature Cited