Brown-capped Vireo
Vireo leucophrys
The Brown-capped Vireo (Vireo leucophrys) is a uncommon shrike-babblers, erpornis, and vireo found in 12 countries, weighing about 12 g. The brown-capped vireo is a small passerine bird in the family Vireonidae, the vireos, greenlets, and shrike-babblers.
About the Brown-capped Vireo
The brown-capped vireo is a small passerine bird in the family Vireonidae, the vireos, greenlets, and shrike-babblers. It is found in Mexico, much of Central America, and in South America from Venezuela to Bolivia.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
The brown-capped vireo is 11.5 to 12.5 cm (4.5 to 4.9 in) long and weighs about 12 to 13.5 g (0.42 to 0.48 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies V. l. leucophrys have an olive-brown crown, a white supercilium, a dusky spot on their lores, a dusky streak behind the eye, and grayish white ear coverts. Their upperparts, wings, and tail are grayish olive to brownish olive-green with yellow edges on the wing coverts. Their throat and upper breast are grayish white and the rest of their underparts pale yellow. Voice: The brown-capped vireo's song has been described as "a short, sweet 2.5-3-sec. warble, similar to Warbling Vireo song", "a silky, ripping, and somewhat hurried little refrain, here you sée me hear me sing so swéet", and "a hesitating, pleasant warble of variable pattern...wurlze-wee-wee wurzle-weezle-wee wurzle-wee". One description of its call is "a wheezing, descending zreeEEEEw".
What the Brown-capped Vireo sounds like
Where it lives
When to see it
The Brown-capped Vireo can be seen all year round, with peak activity in May. It is a resident species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Brown-capped Vireo?
- The brown-capped vireo is 11.5 to 12.5 cm (4.5 to 4.9 in) long and weighs about 12 to 13.5 g (0.42 to 0.48 oz). Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Brown-capped Vireo?
- The Brown-capped Vireo is a tiny sized bird weighing about 12 g.
- Where can you see a Brown-capped Vireo?
- The Brown-capped Vireo occurs in 12 countries, including Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Peru and Venezuela.
- What does a Brown-capped Vireo sound like?
- You can listen to 3 field recordings of the Brown-capped Vireo on this page, contributed to xeno-canto under open licences.
- What birds look similar to a Brown-capped Vireo?
- The Brown-capped Vireo is most easily confused with the Black-whiskered Vireo, the Yellow-green Vireo and the Mangrove Vireo.
- Is the Brown-capped Vireo endangered?
- The Brown-capped Vireo is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Brown-capped Vireo for real
BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.
Play BeakBrainEvery photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.