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Vireos (Vireonidae)

Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius) - HBW 15, p. 425

French: Viréo à tête bleue German: Graukopfvireo Spanish: Vireo Solitario
Other common names: Solitary Vireo (when treated as conspecific with V. plumbeus and V. cassinii); Vera Paz Vireo ("V. propinquus")

Taxonomy: Muscicapa solitaria A. Wilson, 1810, Bartram's woods, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Probably forms a superspecies with V. plumbeus and V. cassinii; the three were formerly treated as conspecific, but molecular-genetic studies indicate that they merit treatment as separate species. Breeding range in SW Canada overlaps slightly with that of V. cassinii, and some interbreeding may occur; cytochrome b sequence studies, however, indicate as much divergence between the two as between present species and closely related V. flavifrons, with which it has likewise hybridized. Specimens of hybrids, from non-breeding range in S Mexico and Guatemala, we.. View all taxonomy...

Taxonomy: Muscicapa solitaria A. Wilson, 1810, Bartram's woods, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Probably forms a superspecies with V. plumbeus and V. cassinii; the three were formerly treated as conspecific, but molecular-genetic studies indicate that they merit treatment as separate species. Breeding range in SW Canada overlaps slightly with that of V. cassinii, and some interbreeding may occur; cytochrome b sequence studies, however, indicate as much divergence between the two as between present species and closely related V. flavifrons, with which it has likewise hybridized. Specimens of hybrids, from non-breeding range in S Mexico and Guatemala, were formerly classified as a full species under name "V. propinquus". Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • solitarius ( A. Wilson, 1810) - breeds from Canada (SW Northwest Territories and W Alberta E to SW Newfoundland and Nova Scotia) S in E USA to N Minnesota, N Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and New Jersey; migrates to S USA (C Texas E to CN Carolina, S to C Florida), E Mexico and S mainly to N Nicaragua, rarely W Cuba and I of Pines.
  • alticola Brewster, 1886 - breeds S Appalachians from NE West Virginia and W Maryland S to N Georgia, casually elsewhere E of mountains; migrates to SE USA (SE Louisiana E to S South Carolina, S to S Florida).

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