Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius)

Abundance: Uncommon during spring, summer, and fall; Rare during winter; recorded in 19 counties, 6 in Kentucky and 13 in Tennessee; 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.

Status: Summer Resident; sight records.

Regional High Count: 34 (10 May 2008; Spring Bird Count, Putnam County, Tennessee; m. ob.); Next Largest High Count: 32 (2 April 1999; 27-km round-trip hike between Twin Arches and Station Camp, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Scott County, Tennessee; Stephen J. Stedman).

Out-of-Season Records: 

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

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.

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: 21 February 1998 (1; Putnam County, Tennessee; Richard W. Simmers, Jr.).

    Late Fall: 10 January 2001 (1; 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 2001-2010 follow:

* But see also Out-of-season Records.

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 checklists during 2003 and on 5 (of 206) monthly checklists during 2004, indicating that this vireo was Very Uncommon in the habitats where YardWatch data were collected,  but few checklists were submitted from sites on the Cumberland Plateau during these years.

Foray Results: Abundance and distribution based on UCR Foray data are mapped as follows:

• Clinton County Foray--12-14 June 2009
• Jackson County Foray--29 May-1 June 2009--no data
• Pickett County Foray--22-25 May 2009
• DeKalb County Foray--23-26 May 2008--no data
• White County Foray--23-26 May 1982
• White County Foray--25-28 May 2007

Remarks: A 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 primarily altitudinal, with populations on the plateau and on the higher slopes of the Cumberland Mountains moving downslope to accommodate the species' population increase.

Counties with Observations during the Spring and Fall Migrations (boldfaced dark blue); during the Winter Season, as well as the Migration Seasons (boldfaced light blue); during the Breeding Season, as well as the Migration Seasons (boldfaced green); and during the Winter Season, as well as the Breeding Season and the Migration Seasons (boldfaced purple):

To see a map (Figure 1) displaying data about this species, click on the boldfaced word in this sentence.

Literature Cited