Black-capped Vireo Gallery

Vireo atricapilla

eBird offers this description of the Black-capped Vireo:  Small vireo with distinctive black head and bold white spectacles surrounding a red eye. Otherwise greenish above with white underparts, yellowish sides and two yellow wingbars. Females and immatures slightly duller than adult males. Found in shrubby habitats with oak and juniper, especially on hillsides. Migrates south to Mexico for the winter. Endangered; populations especially threatened by Brown-headed Cowbird nest parasitism.  All About Birds provides this additional descriptive information: A specialty of Texas scrub oak habitats, the Black-capped Vireo is a snazzy songbird with a gleaming black head and thick white “spectacles” around bright red eyes. They are unusual among vireos in having differing adult male, immature male, and adult female plumages. These birds tend to skulk in thick scrub and can be hard to see, even though breeding males sing their long, varied songs through the heat of the day. This species was listed as Endangered until 2018, and is still on the Partners in Flight Yellow Watch List.

I watched my first Black-capped Vireo on the morning of Sunday, August 30, 2020.  I observed this bird at the blind located near the park headquarters of Kickapoo Cavern State Park. The bird made a very brief appearance and I was fortunate to get a few photos!

Male Black-capped Vireo at Kickapoo Cavern State Park, August 30, 2020.
The Black-capped Vireo stayed in the brush and did not visit the water feature. Kickapoo Cavern S.P., 8-30-20.
A final shot of the Black-capped Vireo, Kickapoo Cavern S. P., 8-30-20.


“Cool Facts” about the Black-capped Vireo from All About Birds…

  • The Black-capped Vireo was federally listed as Endangered in 1987. Thanks to intensive efforts to preserve habitat and reduce nest parasitism by cowbirds, populations of this vireo recovered sufficiently for it to be removed from the list in 2018.
  • The Black-capped Vireo is the only vireo that shows sexual dimorphism, where the male and female look different. It also is the only one in which the male takes two years to reach adult plumage.
  • When Black-capped Vireos sing, they draw from a repertoire of syllables about 10 times larger than those of other vireos.
  • In most Black-capped Vireo populations, males greatly outnumber females, but the reason is not known.
  • It’s rare in nature for similar species to occur in the same habitat and eat the same food, but some vireos manage it. Black-capped Vireos have sometimes been found nesting near White-eyed, Bell’s, Gray, Yellow-throated, and Red-eyed Vireos—even sharing the same nesting bush with Bell’s Vireos. White-eyed, Bell’s, and Black-capped Vireos also forage in similar habitats—low, scrubby areas.
  • The oldest known Black-capped Vireo was a male, at least 12 years old, when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Texas, the same state where it had been banded.