Birdfinding.info ⇒ Locally common in Jamaica’s eastern mountains. Can be found on most visits to Hardwar Gap, Silver Hill Gap, Portland Gap, and Ecclesdown Road. Scarce elsewhere on the island, but consistently reported from Cockpit Country sites including Stewart Town, Burnt Hill, and Windsor.
Blue Mountain Vireo
Vireo osburni
Endemic to Jamaica, where it primarily inhabits wet forests of the Blue, Port Royal, and John Crow Mountains, and occurs at lower densities in the western and central highlands.
Identification
A chunky, unmarked vireo with a heavy gray bill. Its coloration is subtle, but distinctive within its small range: olive above and pale yellow below, with a grayish head and dingy whitish throat.
Blue Mountain Vireo. (Blue Mountains, Jamaica; February 18, 2014.) © Eric W. Greisen
Blue Mountain Vireo. (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; January 28, 2019.) © Matthew Grube
Blue Mountain Vireo. (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; March 18, 2009.) © Paul B. Jones
Blue Mountain Vireo. (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; January 28, 2019.) © Matthew Grube
Blue Mountain Vireo, showing the robust proportions of its bill. © Misty Vaughn
Blue Mountain Vireo. (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; February 2014.) © Tom Davis
Blue Mountain Vireo. (Ecclesdown Road, Jamaica; February 29, 2012.) © Kurt Hennige
Voice. Song is unusual among vireos, a haunting, whistled trill:
Notes
Monotypic species.
IUCN Red List Status: Near Threatened.
References
BirdLife International. 2016. Vireo osburni. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22705225A94006584. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22705225A94006584.en. (Accessed November 11, 2017.)
eBird. 2018. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed November 12, 2018.)
Haynes-Sutton, A., A. Downer, R. Sutton, and Y.-J. Rey-Millet. 2009. A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.