| The Solitary Vireo is olive above with two white wing bars and whitish below with a yellow tinged flanks. The back of the neck and head are slate bluish-gray and this bird was formerly called the "Blue-headed Vireo". The prominent white eye rings and eye stripes give this bird a bespectacled appearance. They have the habit of cocking their head to one side as they perch and search for insects. As its name suggests the Solitary Vireo does not congregate in flocks and when seen will almost always be alone.
The habitat is the coniferous and mixed forests in the mountainous regions of both the eastern and western United States arriving north earlier than most other Vireos. It is absent through most of the central United States but breeds across most of central Canada. They stay near the woods and seldom venture close to homes as do the closely related Red-eyed and Warbling Vireos. Though they avoid urban areas, they are very tolerant of humans and may not fly away when their nest is approached. This vireo winters in South Carolina and southward to Mexico and Cuba.
During courtship the male will fluff out his yellowish flanks and bob and bow his head while singing to the female. The male may start a couple of nests before the final nesting site is selected.
The clutch consists of 3 to 5 white eggs lightly spotted with brown near the larger end and placed in a nest hung in a forked branch usually in a small conifer. The nest is a well constructed basket constructed of grass, forbs, bark, and spiderwebs, decorated with lichens and lined with fine grasses and hair. If the nest should be parasitized by the Brown-headed Cowbird, they will sometimes build a second floor to the nest to cover the parasites eggs. The eggs are incubated for 11 to 14 days by both parents and the young leave the nest about two weeks after hatching.
The diet consist almost entirely of insects and spiders. A small percentage of their diet consists of fruits, especially in their winter habitat.
Length: 5 to 6 inches.
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