White-eyed Vireo
White-eyed Vireo (Birds of North Carolina: their Distribution and Abundance)
The species nests in thickets and other dense cover, usually where damp; habitats include thickets around a lake or pond shore, openings such as road margins through a bottomland or swamp, and regenerating clearcuts. In winter, it favors dense evergreen cover, so there is some change of habitat from the summer season (where the habitat might be mostly deciduous vegetation); maritime forests and thickets, and bottomlands with privet or holly species are favored places. At all times, it is usually found in the shade of dense cover, seldom more than 25 feet from the ground; it is our only breeding species of vireo that favors shrub and understory layers.
White-eyed Vireo (allaboutbirds.org)
White-eyed Vireos are singing machines, often singing well into the heat of the day. That makes it easier to locate the right spot, but getting your binoculars on one might be a little more challenging. They tend to stay down in thick brambles and scrub only peeking out from time to time.
White-eyed Vireo (Audubon Guide to North American Birds)
Male sings incessantly from early spring to late summer to defend nesting territory. In courtship, male displays to female by fluffing plumage, spreading tail, and uttering a whining call. Nest: Placed low (within 25′ of ground, usually much lower) in shrub or sapling.
White-eyed Vireo singing (Youtube, Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
How to Tell Vireos From Warblers, Flycatchers, and Kinglets (Audubon)
The rub with vireos is that they’re a hassle to ID. Their grayish, brownish, yellowish plumage doesn’t do you any favors when trying to distinguish them from the equally grungy empid flycatchers. Their eye rings are kinglet-like at first glance. And their prowling habits among the leaves are nearly identical to those of some warblers. But there are tricks to avoiding these mix-ups. Use the pointers on the photos provided in this article to reveal the biggest differences between vireos and their twinning families.