Warbling Vireo
(Vireo gilvus)

Overview

Summary

© Tony Battiste
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

The Warbling Vireo is an abundant bird in Canada's deciduous riparian forests, ranging from the Maritime Provinces to the west coast and north into Yukon and the Northwest Territories. The Breeding Bird Survey shows that the population in Canada has increased overall since the early 1970s. The species is likely more common today than during historic times, having benefited from forest clearing during the 1800s and 1900s settlement period (James 2007a).

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1993-2012)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

An abundant species with demonstrated population increases across the country, there are currently few conservation concerns in Canada for this species. In Ontario and Quebec, the Warbling Vireo may have benefited from clearing of coniferous forest which created habitat by leaving large deciduous trees near open spaces (Gardali and Ballard 2000). The species may be vulnerable to loss of undisturbed deciduous forest habitat on the wintering grounds (Hutto 1989).

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Gardali, T. and G. Ballard. 2000. Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Gardali, T. and G. Ballard. 2000. Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)
• Hutto, R.L. 1989. The effect of habitat alteration on migratory land birds in a west Mexico tropical deciduous forest: a conservation perspective. Conservation Biology 3:138-148.
• James, R. 2007a. Warbling Vireo. pp. 370-371 in: Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario, 2001-2005. Cadman, M.D., D.A. Sutherland, G.G. Beck, D. Lepage and A.R. Couturier, Eds. Bird Studies Canada, Environment Canada, Ontario Field Ornithologists, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and Ontario Nature, Toronto, Ontario.