A slender sparrow-sized bird I typically hear long before I see it, the Red-eyed Vireo is a small bird that forages in tree canopies of forests and woodlots.
Making for a more difficult time finding them in the dark shadows in the high branches of deciduous trees.
At Oakwoods Metropark near Flat Rock, Michigan, the Red-eyed Vireo greets you with its continuous song from the woods surrounding the nature center parking lot.
It’s one of the few birds I can count on finding in late spring and summer when I visit Oakwoods.
I found this Red-eyed Vireo much lower in the understory, but still well-hidden in the shadows.
Resulting in a not-the-best photo where you can barely make out its red eye and white eyebrow stripe.
One thing I just learned this year: the Red-eyed Vireo doesn’t develop its distinctive red eye color until after its first winter.
They eat a variety of foods, depending on the season and habitat. Similar to the American Robin.
In spring and summer, Red-eyed Vireos eat mostly insects, including caterpillars, moths, butterflies, mosquitos, flies, and spiders.
As the weather changes in fall, their diet becomes mostly fruit.
While they are still plentiful to find in southeast Michigan in early September, they’ll soon start migrating south to winter in South America.
From what I can tell from migration maps, it looks like Red-eyed Vireos are gone from our area by end of October.
