Length: 4.5 inches | Wingspan: 7 inches | Seasonality: Non-resident in South Dakota |
ID Keys: White "spectacles" and lores on dark head, olive-green above, white below, female similar but with less plumage contrast |
The
Black-capped Vireo is the smallest of our vireo species, with a limited
United States range in the southern Great Plains. There, they are
found in shrubland habitats during the summer breeding season. Numbers of
Black-capped Vireos have declined precipitously in recent decades. The
decline has largely been blamed on increased numbers of Brown-headed
Cowbirds, parasitic nesters that lay their eggs in the nests of other birds.
Habitat fragmentation has led to increased numbers of the Cowbirds, and
Black-capped Vireos are particularly susceptible to Cowbird parasitism,
given the relatively long incubation period for their eggs. Cowbird
eggs laid in the nest of a Black-capped Vireo usually hatch much earlier
than the Vireo eggs, leading the parents to raise a family of Cowbirds
rather than Vireos.
Click below for a higher-resolution map |
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South Dakota Status: Non-resident in South Dakota |