Puerto Rican Vireo
Encyclopedia
The Puerto Rican Vireo (Vireo latimeri) is a small true vireo
Vireo
The vireos are a group of small to medium-sized passerine birds restricted to the New World. They are typically dull-plumaged and greenish in color, the smaller species resembling wood warblers apart from their heavier bills...

 endemic
Endemism in birds
An endemic bird area is a region of the world that contains two or more restricted-range species, while a "secondary area" contains one or more restricted-range species. Both terms were devised by Birdlife International....

 to the archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

 of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 and one of the 31 species belonging to the Vireo genus of the Vireonidae family. Its local name is bien-te-veo ("see-you-well", after the call), not to be confused with the unrelated Bienteveo tyrant flycatcher
Great Kiskadee
The Great Kiskadee, Pitangus sulphuratus, is a passerine bird. It is a large tyrant flycatcher; sometimes its genus Pitangus is considered monotypic, with the Lesser Kiskadee The Great Kiskadee, Pitangus sulphuratus, is a passerine bird. It is a large tyrant flycatcher; sometimes its genus Pitangus...

 which is found elsewhere.

The Puerto Rican Vireo has a gray head, a white breast and a yellowish belly. The species measures, on average, 12 cm (4.72 in) and weighs from 11 to 12 grams (0.388–0.423 oz).

An insectivore, the species's diet consists of grasshoppers, caterpillars, cicadas, beetles and aphids and is complemented with spiders, Anolis
Anolis
Anolis is a genus of lizards belonging to the family Polychrotidae. With nearly 400 species, Anolis represents the world's most species rich amniote genus. Several species of Anolis are occasionally ascribed to the genus Norops, but the validity of the Norops genus is not widely accepted...

, and berries.

From 1973–1996 the species suffered a population decline in the Guánica State Forest
Guánica State Forest
The Guánica State Forest is a subtropical dry forest located in southwest Puerto Rico. The area was designated as a forest reserve in 1919 and a United Nations Biosphere Reserve in 1981...

. The primary reason for this decline was brood parasitism
Brood parasite
Brood parasites are organisms that use the strategy of brood parasitism, a kind of kleptoparasitism found among birds, fish or insects, involving the manipulation and use of host individuals either of the same or different species to raise the young of the brood-parasite...

 by the Shiny Cowbird
Shiny Cowbird
The Shiny Cowbird, Molothrus bonariensis, is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It breeds in most of South America apart from the most dense jungles, mountains and deserts , the coldest southernmost regions , and on Trinidad and Tobago...

 (Molothrus bonariensis).

See also

  • Fauna of Puerto Rico
    Fauna of Puerto Rico
    The fauna of Puerto Rico is similar to other island archipelago faunas, with high endemism, and low, skewed taxonomic diversity. Bats are the only extant native terrestrial mammals in Puerto Rico. All other terrestrial mammals in the area were introduced by humans, and include species such as cats,...

  • List of endemic fauna of Puerto Rico
  • List of Puerto Rican birds
  • List of Vieques birds
  • El Toro Wilderness
    El Toro Wilderness
    El Toro Wilderness is a National Wilderness Preservation System located partly within El Yunque National Forest on the island of Puerto Rico...

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