On 9 May Matt Andrews found two ABA Code-3 Yellow-green Vireos (Vireo flavoviridis) at the intersection of the Vireo and Oriole trails in the Audubon Sabal Palm Sanctuary, Texas. On the same date, Lucy Duncan found a Yellow-green Vireo atop live oaks in a private neighborhood on Pensacola Beach, Escambia County, Florida, representing the 6th regional record for the western Panhandle.
For a long time Yellow-green Vireo was thought to be conspecific with Red-eyed Vireo but it differs morphologically (wing formula) and vocally (advertising song). Biochemical studies point towards the two species diverging from each other 4-6 million years ago. They breed from northern Mexico (close to the Texas border) south to easternmost Panama. Wintering exclusively in South America, Yellow-green Vireo is the only Middle America passerine to completely vacate its breeding range in the boreal winter (Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 15).
Vireo is the first person singular of the Latin virere, to be green. Vireo translates as “I am green.” Currently there are 52 recognized species in the Vireonidae, all New World species, but very recent mitochondrial studies show that the Asian genera Erpornis and Pteruthius, the shrike-babblers, should likely be included in the Vireonidae. Their presence in Asia suggests Vireo ancestors, with an origin in Australasia, reached the New World via the Bering land-bridge and not through the once connected Australasia, Antarctica, and South America (Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume 15).
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