Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)

Abundance: Common during spring and summer (but possibly undergoing a decrease in population number during the latter season--see Remarks below); Fairly Common, possibly even Uncommon, during fall (probably more as a consequence of a considerable to almost complete cessation of song after mid- to late August--and the attendant difficulty of detecting the silent vireos--than as a consequence of an actual decrease in the Regional breeding population during fall); recorded in all counties of the Region.  A very preliminary map displaying distribution and abundance based on UCR Foray effort in the Tennessee portion of the Region may be viewed via this link:

•  Map of REVI distribution and abundance based on Foray results

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 northward through the Region to other parts of the species' breeding range during spring or southward to the 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. Photograph (see link below).

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

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: 4 April 2009 (1; White County, Tennessee; Douglas A. Downs).

    Late Fall: 24 October 2005 (1; 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 2001-2010 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 (Stephen J. Stedman [using CDW's camera] photo, Carol D. Williams, Nancy S. Layzer).

Habitat: Varied; most common in mature, somewhat mesic deciduous forest, but also present fairly commonly in mixed forest; breeds in young (10-15 year old) planted pine plantations to a greater degree than might be suspected.

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

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
• Pickett County Foray--22-25 May 2009
• DeKalb County Foray--23-26 May 2008
• White County Foray--23-26 May 1982
• White County Foray--25-28 May 2007
• KY Portion of UCR as of 2009
• TN Portion of UCR as of 2009

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; Pulaski, KY; Cumberland, TN--during Spring Bird Counts, by counts of 300+ accumulated at least once in two Regional counties--Jackson, TN, and White, TN--during Spring Bird Counts, 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 present in moderately large numbers through the end of 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]).

Counties with Observations (boldfaced):

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

Literature Cited