Chestnut-sided shrike-vireo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Chestnut-sided shrike-vireo |
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Vireolanius
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| Species: |
melitophrys
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The chestnut-sided shrike-vireo (Vireolanius melitophrys) is a special bird that lives in the forests of Mexico and Guatemala. It's also sometimes called the honey-browed shrike-vireo. This bird is part of the Vireonidae family, and it's probably the biggest bird in that whole group! You can find these birds in warm, wet mountain forests, from Jalisco and San Luis Potosí in Mexico all the way down to southern Guatemala.
Contents
About This Bird
What's in a Name?
The chestnut-sided shrike-vireo is one of four types of birds in the Vireolanius group. Scientists are still figuring out exactly how these birds are related to other birds in the Vireonidae family. It seems like they are one of the older groups within the New World Vireonidae family.
There are a few slightly different kinds of chestnut-sided shrike-vireos. These are called subspecies. For example, some live in central Mexico, while others are found in southern Mexico and Guatemala.
What Does It Look Like?
Size and Shape
This bird is quite large for its family, growing to about 16.5 to 18 centimeters (6.5 to 7 inches) long. It usually weighs around 34.7 grams (1.2 ounces). Both male and female birds are about the same size.
Colors and Feathers
The chestnut-sided shrike-vireo is a very striking bird! Its back is a bright green. Its belly is mostly white, but it has a special chestnut-colored (reddish-brown) band across its chest and sides. This is how it gets its name!
Its head is also very colorful. It has a gray cap on top and a golden-yellow stripe above its eyes, like an eyebrow. There's a thin black line through its eye that gets thicker towards the back of its head. Its cheeks are white, and it has a white throat. The bird's legs are pink, and its eyes are yellow.
Male and female chestnut-sided shrike-vireos look a little different. This is called sexual dimorphism. Females usually have paler feathers and less of the bright chestnut color than the males.
What Sounds Does It Make?
The song of the chestnut-sided shrike-vireo is quite unique. It's a complex, whistling sound that starts low and quickly goes high, then slowly goes back down. They often sing this song over and over, with short breaks in between.
Their calls are more like a rough chatter. These birds can be hard to spot because they live in thick forests. So, listening for their songs is often the best way to find them. Their songs can be heard up to 400 meters (1,300 feet) away!
Scientists have described several different sounds these birds make:
- Primary Song: This is a complex whistle sung only by males. They repeat these whistles.
- Short Song: A quick, short call that might be used by males to signal females near their nests.
- Myaaaah Call: A sound similar to the beginning of their song, often heard from females.
- Distress Call: Harsh, agitated sounds they make when they are upset or handled.
- Contact Call: Low, buzzing notes given by both males and females to keep in touch.
- Buzz-rattle: A longer contact call, often made when a bird is approaching its nest alone.
Where Does It Live?
The chestnut-sided shrike-vireo loves humid pine-oak forests. It lives only in mountain areas from central Mexico (like Jalisco and San Luis Potosí) down to southern Guatemala.
These birds are not very common anywhere. They prefer tropical and subtropical forest areas, usually above 1,800 meters (about 5,900 feet) in elevation. For example, in San Luis Potosí, they are found between 1,200 meters (4,000 feet) and 2,040 meters (6,700 feet) high. In Jalisco, they are mostly found above 1,400 meters (4,600 feet).
How Does It Behave?
Defending Their Space
Chestnut-sided shrike-vireos are very protective of their territory. They can claim an area of up to 4 acres (1.6 hectares) or more. Males will often sing back and forth to each other to show who's boss. Sometimes, they even get into fights, grabbing onto each other and flapping their wings! When they are upset, they might raise the feathers on their head or fan their tails.
Singing Habits
Male birds sing the most when they are building nests in May. They sing less during the non-breeding season. Their songs usually last about a minute. They often sing with their body held at an angle and their beak pointing straight out. During breeding season, they might sing every ten minutes! These birds will also respond to recordings of other birds' calls.
What Do They Eat?
These birds mostly eat arthropods, which are like insects and spiders. This includes caterpillars, wasps, grasshoppers, bugs, spiders, and beetles. They usually look for food among the leaves and plants growing on trees. If they catch a very large insect, they might hit it against a branch to kill it. Sometimes, they even hold the food with their feet and use their beak to break it apart. They don't often eat plants or fruit.
Chestnut-sided shrike-vireos prefer to stay in the middle parts of trees, but they can move closer to the ground or higher up. They usually look for food alone or in pairs. They are most active in the morning and late afternoon, moving slowly from one spot to another. Sometimes, they join groups of different bird species to forage together.
Building Nests
Both male and female birds work together to build cup-shaped nests in trees. They usually build these nests about 7.5 meters (25 feet) above the ground, using materials like grasses.
Challenges They Face
These birds are sensitive to their habitat being broken up into smaller pieces. One study showed that they need a very large area of forest, at least 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres), to survive.
Conservation Status
The chestnut-sided shrike-vireo is currently considered a species of "Least Concern" by conservation groups. This means their population is stable. There are an estimated 20,000 to 50,000 of these birds, and they live across a wide area of less than 500,000 square kilometers (193,000 square miles).
