Black-capped Vireo Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesBlack-capped Vireo
Male
Small songbird with a forward perching posture. Males have a black head and white spectacles that surround their red eye. White below with yellow washed flanks.
© Bryan Calk / Macaulay LibraryTexas, May 09, 2020Female
Small, somewhat stocky songbird with a hooked bill. Females have a gray head and white spectacles. Mostly white below with yellow washed flanks.
© Laura Keene / Macaulay LibraryTexas, May 15, 2020Male
Sings throughout its territory during the breeding season, often perching on an exposed branch or dead twig just below the canopy of trees and shrubs. Song described as "drink yur, drink yur or drink yur teee."
© Andrew Spencer / Macaulay LibraryOklahoma, May 01, 2021Not all videos have sound
Male
Uniquely marked vireo with a black head and white spectacles surrounding a red eye. Yellow-olive above.
© David Krueper / Macaulay LibraryJalisco, March 01, 2018Male
Breeds in oak-juniper scrublands in Texas, Oklahoma, and northern Mexico.
© Simon Kiacz / Macaulay LibraryTexas, June 30, 2020Similar SpeciesPlumbeous Vireo
Adult
Plumbeous Vireo is less colorful than Black-capped Vireo: mostly uniform gray, without the Black-capped's black head and greenish back.
© William Higgins / Macaulay LibraryArizona, January 17, 2017Similar SpeciesBlue-headed Vireo
Adult
Blue-headed Vireo has a bluish-gray, not black, head. It breeds in mature forests, not scrub, and overlaps with Black-capped Vireo only during migration.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryMississippi, December 25, 2009Similar SpeciesHutton's Vireo
Adult
Hutton's Vireo lacks the bold black cap of Black-capped Vireo.
© Tim Lenz / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, August 08, 2010Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
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Species in This Family
Vireos, Shrike-Babblers, and Erpornis(Order: Passeriformes, Family: Vireonidae)
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