Viréo aux yeux blancs— Quebec wildlife

The white-eyed vireo (Vireo griseus) is a small songbird of the family Vireonidae.

Description

Measurements: Length: 4.3–5.1 in (11–13 cm) Weight: 0.3–0.5 oz (10–14 g) Wingspan: 6.7 in (17 cm) Its head and back are a greyish olive, and the underparts are white with yellow flanks. The wings and tail are dark, and there are two white wing bars on each wing. The eyes have white irises, and are surrounded by yellow spectacles. Sexes are similar.

Diet

During the breeding season, the diet of this species consists almost exclusively of insects, primarily caterpillars and stink bugs (Pentatomidae); beetles, flies, wasps, snails, and very rarely small vertebrates are also consumed. In the autumn and winter it supplements its diet of insects with berries.

Reproduction

They nest near the ground in tangled thickets. Nests are made of weeds, leaves, grass, bark or bits of trash. The grass-lined nest is a neat cup shape, attached to a fork in a tree branch by spider webs. It lays 3–5 dark-spotted white eggs. Both the male and female incubate the eggs for 12–16 days. The young leave the nest 9–11 days after hatching.