White-eyed Vireo

How to find it

Treat this bird as a lucky bonus, not a target species. Scan thick, low vegetation rather than the canopy, since it forages for caterpillars and other insects in shrubby tangles. It is often easiest to find by ear, so listen for the fast, staccato song with its sharp opening and closing note. Fruiting shrubs are worth checking for a winter bird. Be ready for a bird that hops and flits rather than perching in the open.

How to recognise it

This is a small vireo, 13 to 15 cm long. Look for these marks:

Olive-gray head and back.

White underparts with yellow flanks.

Two white wing bars.

Yellow spectacles around the eye.

A white iris, which gives the bird its name.

The throat is white, with yellow only on the flanks and around the eye. The white eye shows only at close range. Young birds have dark eyes, and immatures have brown and gray eyes from July to February. Costa Rican birds are probably mostly young individuals, so a winter bird here may not show a white eye at all. Lean on the yellow spectacles, the wing bars and the white throat.

What it sounds like

Recording: w_mark_c, CC0 1.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

The White-eyed Vireo spends much of its time out of sight but sings loudly, and males are persistent singers, so it is more often heard than seen. It moves in hops and short flights, which makes it tricky to keep in focus with binoculars.

In the breeding season it eats almost only insects, mostly caterpillars. In autumn and winter it adds berries to its diet.

Where it lives

Across its range the species uses dense scrub, forest edges and tall grass, and shrubland is its main habitat. It also uses degraded former forest, dry forest and moist lowland forest. Its elevation range is 0 to 1500 m.

In Costa Rica the dated records come from the Caribbean side, at Tortuguero on the coast and around Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí, with one from Monteverde. The country lies at the far southern edge of the winter range, which mainly covers the southern US, eastern Mexico and the Caribbean.

When to see it

The dated Costa Rican records are from November, December, January and March. It reaches the country only occasionally, so there is no regular season.

Similar birds

The Mangrove Vireo, a resident in Costa Rica, is a close relative from the same scrub-dwelling group. Among Costa Rican vireos, the White-eyed sits with those that have wing bars and eye rings, alongside Blue-headed and Yellow-throated. Yellow-throated has a bright yellow throat and breast, while the White-eyed has a white throat. Blue-headed has white spectacles, dark eyes and a dark gray head. Bell's Vireo is grayer, has dark eyes and lacks the bright yellow spectacles.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica the bird is called vireo ojiblanco. Elsewhere you may meet julián chiví ojiblanco and verderón grisáceo in Colombia, and vireo de ojo blanco in Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

Status and conservation

Listed as M on the AOCR list, it is a rare or accidental visitor in Costa Rica, though rated Least Concern worldwide.

Photography tips

Scan thick low vegetation and listen first, because the bird hops and makes short flights that are hard to follow in binoculars. Fruiting shrubs in winter are a sensible place to wait.