Vireo plumbeus
Silhouette: Caleb Gordon · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The plumbeous vireo (Vireo plumbeus) is a small North American songbird in the family Vireonidae, the vireos, greenlets, and shrike-babblers. It is found from the U. S. states of Montana and South Dakota south to Honduras.
The plumbeous vireo was originally described in 1866 as Vireo plumbeous, its present binomial. Until the late 1990s it and what are now Cassin's vireo (V. cassinii) and the blue-headed vireo (V. solitarius) were treated as a single species, the "solitary vireo" (V. solitarius sensu lato). Earlier studies had suggested the split based on morphology, plumage, and vocalizations, and molecular genetic studies published in the early 1990s confirmed differences among the three. They form a superspecies.
The plumbeous vireo has these four subspecies: Several other subspecies have been named but have not been confirmed as separate from any of these four. There is some doubt about whether V. plumbeous represents one or two species, and the Clements taxonomy separates them within the species as the "plumbeous" (V. p. plumbeus... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | El Triunfo | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Celaque National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 6 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 8 | Cañón del Sumidero National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 9 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | La Tigra National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 11 | Lago de Yojoa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 12 | Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 13 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 15 | Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇧🇿 Belize |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Torreón | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Guatemala City | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 5 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 6 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 7 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Plumbeous Vireo sighting in Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 98th most-seen of the 103 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Plumbeous Vireo in Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca on a given day, against under 5% in January–March, May and October–November, the lowest months. That is one of Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 270 mm in July. April and June–September have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Plumbeous Vireo sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 15
Of the 15 parks where we can rate Plumbeous Vireo sightings, Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca ranks 7th at under 5%. The best odds are in Guadalupe Mountains National Park (United States, about 20%), Zion National Park (United States, about 20%) and El Triunfo (Mexico, about 10%).
Same genus: Vireo
The closest relatives of the Plumbeous Vireo that you can see in Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca (genus Vireo, Vireos) are Hutton's Vireo (about 20%) and Warbling Vireo (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Plumbeous Vireo is recorded against all the birds logged in Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca (5 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
