The thick-billed vireo is a small songbird. It breeds in the West Indies in the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, Cayman Islands, Tortuga Island in Haiti and on cays off the coast of Cuba. It occasionally can be found as a vagrant to south Florida in the United States. The subspecies V. c. approximans of Providencia Island is sometimes treated as a subspecies of the mangrove vireo or as a separate species, the Providencia vireo.
Region
Caribbean (West Indies)
Typical Environment
Found primarily in the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Cayman Islands, Tortuga Island off Haiti, and cays off northern Cuba; a subspecies occurs on Providencia Island. It favors coastal scrub, dry broadleaf coppice, and the edges of mangroves, often in low, dense vegetation. It also uses second-growth thickets, gardens with native shrubs, and pine–scrub mosaics where understory is dense. Birds are mostly sedentary within small territories year-round, with occasional vagrancy to south Florida.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 400 m
Climate Zone
Subtropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The thick-billed vireo is a robust, island-dwelling vireo with a conspicuously stout bill and bold white 'spectacles.' It inhabits scrub, coastal coppice, and mangrove edges across parts of the West Indies and is occasionally recorded as a vagrant in south Florida. Subspecies variation is notable, with the Providencia Island form sometimes treated differently taxonomically. Its sharp, scolding calls and repetitive song phrases make it easier to detect than to see in dense thickets.
Temperament
active and territorial
Flight Pattern
short, direct flights with rapid wingbeats
Social Behavior
Typically seen singly or in pairs, maintaining year-round territories. Pairs are monogamous and build a neat, suspended cup nest in a shrub or small tree. Both sexes incubate and feed the young, and adults can be quite vocal and defensive near the nest.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Song is a repetitive series of short, scolding phrases delivered at a steady pace. Calls include sharp chuks and rattling scolds, often given from within dense cover.
