A bird of Caribbean forests, the Black-whiskered Vireo reaches the United States only in southern Florida. Restricted to mangroves in Florida, it lives in other upland forest types in the rest of the Caribbean.
The Black-whiskered Vireo competes for food with a number of warblers during the winter. It differs from the warblers by consuming nearly an equal amount of fruits and insects, and by foraging higher in the canopy than most of the other gleaning insectivores.
One Black-whiskered Vireo nest found in Florida was composed of carpet fibers and duck feathers, and was suspended by nylon fishing line.