Red-Eyed Vireo
Vireo olivaceus
The Red-Eyed Vireo breeds extensively across Canada and eastern North America and migrates to South America’s Amazon basin in winter.
Today’s science suggests two subspecies of Red-Eyed Vireo in North America:
- V. o. olivaceus breeds across most of Canada.
- V. o. caniviridis breeds in western USA’s Great Basin and the northwest, including Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
There is a population of Red-Eyed Vireos that remains as residents in South America. I believe this subspecies was V. o. chivi, which is now reclassified as its own species, the Chivi Vireo (Vireo chivi), and has nine subspecies of its own.
Red-Eyed Vireos are prolific singers. One observer noted a bird that sang 22,197 songs over a 14 hour period, pausing only four hours during the day. Some listeners find these songs monotonous, which is typical of many vireos. Their songs are a blend of phrases ending with up-slurs followed by a phrase with a down-slur, and reminds us of an endless conversation with questions, followed by answers.
My introduction to the Red-Eyed Vireo occurred at Lesser Slave Lake in Alberta (Canada) while I was heading to Alaska in 2005. I didn’t meet this bird again until I was in south Texas during spring migration in 2021. But in 2022, I journeyed through Canada, where I had many meetings, and got to know them well, especially in northern Alberta and British Columbia.
29 Photos

Red-eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta, Canada. |
Date Taken: 2005:06:07 7:44 |
Location:
Lesser Slave Lake |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/6.7, 1/180 |
File Name: JCD3791RedEyedVireo |
© 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Red-eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta, Canada. |
Date Taken: 2005:06:07 16:46 |
Location:
Lesser Slave Lake |
Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 550 mm, f/13.0, 1/250 |
File Name: JCD3831RedEyedVireo |
© 2005 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: I first met this bird in Canada in 2005, but I think this encounter produced better images. I wasn’t counting on this meeting. Bird activity on Tuesday’s visit to South Padre Island was slightly less hectic than it was on the weekend, but it gave me some great bird encounters, including two birds brand new to me. |
Date Taken: 2021:04:20 18:17 |
Location:
Convention Center |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_D5X0502SPI_ConventionCtr |
© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: I first met this bird in Canada in 2005, but I think this encounter produced better images. I wasn’t counting on this meeting. Bird activity on Tuesday’s visit to South Padre Island was slightly less hectic than it was on the weekend, but it gave me some great bird encounters, including two birds brand new to me. |
Date Taken: 2021:04:20 18:13 |
Location:
Convention Center |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2000 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_D5X0481SPI_ConventionCtr |
© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: I first met this bird in Canada in 2005, but I think this encounter produced better images. I wasn’t counting on this meeting. Bird activity on Tuesday’s visit to South Padre Island was slightly less hectic than it was on the weekend, but it gave me some great bird encounters, including two birds brand new to me. |
Date Taken: 2021:04:20 18:01 |
Location:
Convention Center |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_D5X0427SPI_ConventionCtr |
© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: I first met this bird in Canada in 2005, but I think this encounter produced better images. I wasn’t counting on this meeting. Bird activity on Tuesday’s visit to South Padre Island was slightly less hectic than it was on the weekend, but it gave me some great bird encounters, including two birds brand new to me. |
Date Taken: 2021:04:20 18:01 |
Location:
Convention Center |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_D5X0421SPI_ConventionCtr |
© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: I first met this bird in Canada in 2005, but I think this encounter produced better images. I wasn’t counting on this meeting. Bird activity on Tuesday’s visit to South Padre Island was slightly less hectic than it was on the weekend, but it gave me some great bird encounters, including two birds brand new to me. |
Date Taken: 2021:04:20 18:00 |
Location:
Convention Center |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_D5X0416SPI_ConventionCtr |
© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: These poor images were all this vireo would offer me. Sunday was a day when the birds and then birders increased their respective presence on South Padre Island. Both are to be expected as spring migration steps up the bird numbers moving through on their way north. |
Date Taken: 2021:04:11 11:04 |
Location:
Convention Center |
Camera Information: NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_D5X4232-SPI_ConventionCtr |
© 2021 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: On my way to the Boreal Center for Bird Conservation, I stopped at Northshore Beach for a second visit. I devoted more effort to capturing images two days earlier. |
Date Taken: 2022:05:29 12:49 |
Location:
Northshore Beach |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/100 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8503686-NorthShoreBeach.LesserSlaveLake |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: On my way to the Boreal Center for Bird Conservation, I stopped at Northshore Beach for a second visit. I devoted more effort to capturing images two days earlier. |
Date Taken: 2022:05:29 12:52 |
Location:
Northshore Beach |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/500 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8503730-NorthShoreBeach.LesserSlaveLake |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: On my way to the Boreal Center for Bird Conservation, I stopped at Northshore Beach for a second visit. I devoted more effort to capturing images two days earlier. |
Date Taken: 2022:05:29 12:52 |
Location:
Northshore Beach |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/320 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8503749-NorthShoreBeach.LesserSlaveLake |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: On my way to the Boreal Center for Bird Conservation, I stopped at Northshore Beach for a second visit. I devoted more effort to capturing images two days earlier. |
Date Taken: 2022:05:29 12:52 |
Location:
Northshore Beach |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/320 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8503766-NorthShoreBeach.LesserSlaveLake |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: I’d been meeting Red-Eyed Vireos at many of my recent stops in Northern Canada. It was nice to see them at Taylor Landing, too. I fell in love with the Boreal Forest that lined the Peace River next to the Alaska Highway during my north-bound journey a month earlier. |
Date Taken: 2022:06:28 10:02 |
Location:
Taylor Landing |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/4000 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8505679-TaylorLanding.BC_ |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: I’d been meeting Red-Eyed Vireos at many of my recent stops in Northern Canada. It was nice to see them at Taylor Landing, too. I fell in love with the Boreal Forest that lined the Peace River next to the Alaska Highway during my north-bound journey a month earlier. |
Date Taken: 2022:06:28 10:05 |
Location:
Taylor Landing |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/3200 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8505788-TaylorLanding.BC_ |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: I’d been meeting Red-Eyed Vireos at many of my recent stops in Northern Canada. It was nice to see them at Taylor Landing, too. I fell in love with the Boreal Forest that lined the Peace River next to the Alaska Highway during my north-bound journey a month earlier. |
Date Taken: 2022:06:28 10:14 |
Location:
Taylor Landing |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/5000 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8505815-TaylorLanding.BC_ |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: After leaving Lesser Slave Lake in Alberta, I drove east to Lac La Biche and spent a morning at their Provincial Park. There, I met Red-Eyed Vireos. |
Date Taken: 2022:07:08 11:15 |
Location:
Lac La Biche Provisional Park |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8509911-LacLaBiche.AB_ |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: After leaving Lesser Slave Lake in Alberta, I drove east to Lac La Biche and spent a morning at their Provincial Park. There, I met Red-Eyed Vireos. |
Date Taken: 2022:07:08 11:15 |
Location:
Lac La Biche Provisional Park |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1600 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8509900-LacLaBiche.AB_ |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: I seem to find Red-Eyed Vireos in most places I stopped on my tour through northern Canada. Meeting them at the Boreal Center for Bird Conservation on the edge of Lesser Slave Lake was not surprising. |
Date Taken: 2022:07:06 11:36 |
Location:
Boreal Centre For Bird Conservat |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/250 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8509706-LesserSlaveLake.BorealBirdCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: I seem to find Red-Eyed Vireos in most places I stopped on my tour through northern Canada. Meeting them at the Boreal Center for Bird Conservation on the edge of Lesser Slave Lake was not surprising. |
Date Taken: 2022:07:06 10:33 |
Location:
Boreal Centre For Bird Conservat |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/800 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8509414-LesserSlaveLake.BorealBirdCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: I seem to find Red-Eyed Vireos in most places I stopped on my tour through northern Canada. Meeting them at the Boreal Center for Bird Conservation on the edge of Lesser Slave Lake was not surprising. |
Date Taken: 2022:07:06 10:07 |
Location:
Boreal Centre For Bird Conservat |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/500 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8509358-LesserSlaveLake.BorealBirdCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: I seem to find Red-Eyed Vireos in most places I stopped on my tour through northern Canada. Meeting them at the Boreal Center for Bird Conservation on the edge of Lesser Slave Lake was not surprising. |
Date Taken: 2022:07:06 10:07 |
Location:
Boreal Centre For Bird Conservat |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/400 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8509355-LesserSlaveLake.BorealBirdCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: I seem to find Red-Eyed Vireos in most places I stopped on my tour through northern Canada. Meeting them at the Boreal Center for Bird Conservation on the edge of Lesser Slave Lake was not surprising. |
Date Taken: 2022:07:06 10:07 |
Location:
Boreal Centre For Bird Conservat |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/500 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8509341-LesserSlaveLake.BorealBirdCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is only a few miles north of South Padre Island on the Texas Gulf Coast. Migrating birds, such as this Red-Eyed Vireo, pass through here each spring and fall. |
Date Taken: 2022:08:30 9:42 |
Location:
Laguna Atascosa NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/500 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8506328-LagunaAtascosa |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is only a few miles north of South Padre Island on the Texas Gulf Coast. Migrating birds, such as this Red-Eyed Vireo, pass through here each spring and fall. |
Date Taken: 2022:08:30 9:42 |
Location:
Laguna Atascosa NWR |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/500 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8506332-LagunaAtascosa |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: After meeting them on their Canadian breeding grounds earlier this spring, I enjoyed another visit at this stop-over on their journey to South America. Despite the heat and humidity at the South Padre Island Convention Centre, we captured images of several interesting birds. |
Date Taken: 2022:09:02 12:17 |
Location:
South Padre Island Covention Cen |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/1600 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8507474-SPI.ConventionCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: After meeting them on their Canadian breeding grounds earlier this spring, I enjoyed another visit at this stop-over on their journey to South America. Despite the heat and humidity at the South Padre Island Convention Centre, we captured images of several interesting birds. |
Date Taken: 2022:09:02 12:17 |
Location:
South Padre Island Covention Cen |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/2500 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8507489-SPI.ConventionCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: There didn’t seem to be great numbers of Red-Eyed Vireos visiting South Padre Island when I attended fall migration there, but the few I saw were a pleasure to meet. |
Date Taken: 2022:09:11 13:36 |
Location:
South Padre Island Covention Cen |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/250 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8501462-SPI.ConventionCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: The Red-Eyed Vireos I met at the SPI Convention Centre mostly foraged high in the canopy, but occasionally they found their way onto perches more suitable for my camera to capture. |
Date Taken: 2022:09:16 11:41 |
Location:
South Padre Island Covention Cen |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/3200 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8503361-SPI-ConventionCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |


Red-Eyed Vireo(Vireo olivaceus) |
Description: The Red-Eyed Vireos I met at the SPI Convention Centre mostly foraged high in the canopy, but occasionally they found their way onto perches more suitable for my camera to capture. |
Date Taken: 2022:09:16 11:41 |
Location:
South Padre Island Covention Cen |
Camera Information: NIKON D850, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/3200 |
File Name: RedEyedVireo_8503371-SPI-ConventionCentre |
© 2022 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |

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