As we strolled along a wooded path the other day in the Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve, near my home in Decatur, an unseen little bird sang persistently and exuberantly in a nearby thicket.
The song sounded something like “chick, per-wee-tee-o, chick.” Someone in our birding group also remarked that it sounded like “quick, gimmee a beer, quick.”
Regardless of our interpretations, we knew that it was a white-eyed vireo belting out a song. Though common in Georgia during spring and summer, the bird is easily overlooked because of its small size and inconspicuous olive green color. But its songs are distinct.
No other bird songs, in fact, remotely resemble those of the white-eyed vireo, according to the late Georgia ornithologist Thomas Burleigh. “Few birds sing more persistently, and except for a brief interval in late summer, its loud, emphatic singing can be heard from the time it arrives in the spring until it departs in the fall,” he said.
The authoritative Birds of North America Online notes that individual white-eyed vireos have repertoires of a dozen or more distinct songs, each comprising six to 10 highly variable elements. The bird’s complex song delivery makes it a compelling subject for studies of vocal communication.
It also makes the bird a favorite among birders.
In general, vireos, which consume tons of insects, are known for their tireless singing. Five other vireo species inhabit Georgia at least a part of the year. They include the Philadelphia vireo and the warbling vireo, which pay brief visits during spring and fall migrations; the blue-headed vireo, which nests in the mountains; the yellow-throated vireo, the most colorful vireo; and the red-eyed vireo, one of Georgia’s most common songbirds in summer.
The red-eyed vireo rivals the white-eyed vireo for sheer singing endurance, but its songs lack its cousin’s complexity and enthusiasm.
The red-eyed vireo is one of the few birds to be heard singing all day long, even in the heat of a summer day. Of the bird, Burleigh said: “There are undoubtedly intervals when it is quiet, but the impression it gives is that of a bird that never tires as it repeats the short phrases that comprise its song.”
In the sky: The moon will be full Friday, said David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer. The Cherokee peoples called June's full moon the "Green Corn Moon." Mercury is low in the west at dusk. Venus rises out of the east about two hours before dawn. Mars is in the south at dusk and will appear near the moon in Saturday night's sky. Jupiter is low in the west at dusk and sets in the west about an hour later. Saturn is in the east just after dark and will appear near the moon Tuesday night.
