Cuban Vireo

The Cuban vireo is about 13 cm (5.1 in) long and weighs about 11 to 15 g (0.39 to 0.53 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies V. g. gundlachii have an olive-gray crown, nape, and ear coverts. They have a yellow or creamy white patch from lores through the eye and a grayish yellow area from the bill to the ear coverts. Their upperparts are olive-gray. Their wing coverts are brownish gray with small whitish or pale grayish tips that form two faint wing bars. Their flight feathers are brownish gray; the primaries and secondaries have pale yellowish edges on the outer webs. Their tail is brownish gray. Their throat and breast are yellowish, their belly and vent a paler yellowish, their sides a grayer yellowish, and their undertail coverts yellow gray. They have a brown or reddish brown iris, a gray-brown maxilla, a paler mandible, and lead gray legs and feet. Juveniles are overall duller than adults. Subspecies V. g. magnus is larger than the nominate, with longer wings and tail, a less olivaceous back, and paler yellow underparts. V. g. sanfelipensis has a whitish (not yellow) chin and throat and paler underparts than the nominate. V. g. orientalis has grayer upperparts and paler underparts than the nominate.

The subspecies of the Cuban vireo are found thus:

V. g. magnus: Cayo Cantiles, east of Isla de la Juventud (formerly the Isle of Pines) V. g. sanfelipensis: Cayo Real, in the Cayos de San Felipe west of Isla de la Juventud V. g. gundlachii: Cuba (including Isla de la Juventud) except for the southeast V. g. orientalis" southeastern Cuba The Cuban vireo primarily inhabits the edges of evergreen and deciduous forest, brushlands, thickets, and scrublands from sea level up to about 700 m (2,300 ft) but also occurs higher.

The Cuban vireo feeds on insects, fruits, and small lizards. It mostly forages in pairs and frequently joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It typically forages in low vegetation.