Cuban vireo

{{speciesbox | name = Cuban vireo | image = Cuban Vireo - Cuba S4E0897 (22991166932).jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2018 |title=Cuban Vireo ''Vireo gundlachii'' |volume=2018 |article-number=e.T22705197A130372877 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22705197A130372877.en |access-date=3 December 2025}}</ref> | genus = Vireo | species = gundlachii | authority = Lembeye, 1850 | synonyms = }}

The '''Cuban vireo''' ('''''Vireo gundlachii''''') is a species of bird in the family Vireonidae, the vireos, greenlets, and shrike-babblers. It is endemic to Cuba.<ref name=IOC15.1>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/shrikes/ |title=Vireos, shrike-babblers |website=IOC World Bird List |version =v 15.1 | editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen |date=March 2025 |access-date=3 March 2025 }}</ref>

==Taxonomy and systematics==

The Cuban vireo was originally described in 1850 as ''Vireo gundlachii'', its current binomial. At the time it had several local names including "Petit-bobo", "Juanchiví", and "Ojone". Its specific epithet honors Cuban zoologist Juan Gundlach.<ref>{{cite book | last=Lembeye |first=Juan | date= 1850 | title=Aves de la Isla de Cuba | publisher=Imprenta del Tiempo |pages=29–30 |language=Spanish | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/46045210 |access-date=December 3, 2025 }}</ref> Some authors have treated it as a subspecies of the white-eyed vireo (''V. griseus'').<ref name=CUVI-BOW>Brewer, D. (2025). Cuban Vireo (''Vireo gundlachii''), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, E. de Juana, and M. G. Smith, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.cubvir1.01.1 retrieved December 3, 2025</ref>

The Cuban vireo's further taxonomy is unsettled. The IOC, AviList, and BirdLife International's ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' assign it these four subspecies:<ref name=IOC15.1/><ref name=AviList2025>AviList Core Team. 2025. AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025. https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025 retrieved June 11, 2025</ref><ref name=HBW10>HBW and BirdLife International (2025). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 10. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/about-our-science/taxonomy#birdlife-s-taxonomic-checklist retrieved October 12, 2025</ref>

*''V. g. magnus'' Garrido, 1971 *''V. g. sanfelipensis'' Garrido, 1973 *''V. g. gundlachii'' Lembeye, 1850 *''V. g. orientalis'' Todd, 1916

However, the Clements taxonomy treats it as monotypic.<ref name=Clements2025>Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2025. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2025. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 3, 2025</ref>

This article follows the four-subspecies model.

==Description==

The Cuban vireo is about {{convert|13|cm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long and weighs about {{convert|11|to|15|g|oz|sigfig=2|abbr=on}}. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies ''V. g. gundlachii'' have an olive-gray crown, nape, and ear coverts. They have a yellow or creamy white patch from lores through the eye and a grayish yellow area from the bill to the ear coverts. Their upperparts are olive-gray. Their wing coverts are brownish gray with small whitish or pale grayish tips that form two faint wing bars. Their flight feathers are brownish gray; the primaries and secondaries have pale yellowish edges on the outer webs. Their tail is brownish gray. Their throat and breast are yellowish, their belly and vent a paler yellowish, their sides a grayer yellowish, and their undertail coverts yellow gray. They have a brown or reddish brown iris, a gray-brown maxilla, a paler mandible, and lead gray legs and feet. Juveniles are overall duller than adults.<ref name=CUVI-BOW/>

Subspecies ''V. g. magnus'' is larger than the nominate, with longer wings and tail, a less olivaceous back, and paler yellow underparts. ''V. g. sanfelipensis'' has a whitish (not yellow) chin and throat and paler underparts than the nominate. ''V. g. orientalis'' has grayer upperparts and paler underparts than the nominate.<ref name=CUVI-BOW/>

==Distribution and habitat==

The subspecies of the Cuban vireo are found thus:<ref name=IOC15.1/>

*''V. g. magnus'': Cayo Cantiles, east of Isla de la Juventud (formerly the Isle of Pines) *''V. g. sanfelipensis'': Cayo Real, in the Cayos de San Felipe west of Isla de la Juventud *''V. g. gundlachii'': Cuba (including Isla de la Juventud<ref name=AOU1998>{{cite book | last = | first = | title =Check-list of North American Birds | publisher =American Ornithologists' Union |edition =7th | date =1998 | location =Washington, D.C. | pages =432 }}</ref>) except for the southeast *''V. g. orientalis''" southeastern Cuba

The Cuban vireo primarily inhabits the edges of evergreen and deciduous forest, brushlands, thickets, and scrublands from sea level up to about {{convert|700|m|ft|abbr=on}} but also occurs higher.<ref name=CUVI-BOW/><ref name=Raffaele>{{cite book | last =Raffaele | first =Herbert | last2 =Wiley | first2 =James | last3 =Garrido | first3 =Orlando | last4 =Keith | first4 =Allan | last5 =Rafaele | first5 =Janice | title =Birds of the West Indies | publisher =Princeton University Press | series =Princeton Field Guides | date =2003 | pages =Plate 65 | isbn =0-691-11319-X }}</ref><ref name=AOU1998/>

==Behavior== ===Movement===

The Cuban vireo is a year-round resident.<ref name=AOU1998/>

===Feeding===

The Cuban vireo feeds on insects, fruits, and small lizards. It mostly forages in pairs and frequently joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It typically forages in low vegetation.<ref name=CUVI-BOW/>

===Breeding===

The Cuban vireo breeds between March and August with most activity between April and June. Its nest is a cup made from plant fibers, mosses, animal fur and hair, and other rather soft materials; it hangs by its rim in a thin branch's fork and is usually well concealed. The clutch is three eggs that are white with small brown or purplish spots. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.<ref name=CUVI-BOW/>

{{birdsong|url=https://xeno-canto.org/species/Vireo-gundlachii |species=the Cuban vireo}} ===Vocalization===

The Cuban vireo's song is a "[h]igh, oft-repeated ''wi-chiví, wi-chiví, wi-chiví...''".<ref name=Raffaele/> It also makes "a rapid descending series of ''chi'' notes, a scolding ''kik'', a soft rattling call, and in spring courtship, a rapid repeated ''wheet''".<ref name=CUVI-BOW/>

==Status==

The IUCN has assessed the Cuban vireo as being of Least Concern. It has a large range; its population size is not known but is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified.<ref name=IUCN/> It is considered "common and widespread".<ref name=Raffaele/> Because subspecies ''V. g. magnus'' and ''V. g. sanfelipensis'' have very small ranges they "could be vulnerable to violent meteorological events, especially hurricanes".<ref name=CUVI-BOW/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Cuban Viero Category:Endemic birds of Cuba Cuban vireo Cuban vireo Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot