the white-eyed vireo , vireo griseus , is a small songbird .
it breeds in the southeastern usa from new jersey west to northern missouri and south to texas and  florida , and also in eastern mexico , northern central america , cuba and the bahamas .
populations on the us gulf coast and further south are resident , but most north american birds migrate south in winter .
this vireo frequents bushes and shrubs in abandoned cultivation or overgrown pastures .
the grass-lined nest is a neat cup shape , attached to a fork in a tree branch by spider webs .
3-5 dark-spotted white eggs are laid .
both the male and female incubate the eggs for 12  16 days .
the young leave the nest 9  11 days after hatching .
the white-eyed vireo is 13  15 cm in length .
its head and back are a greyish olive , and the underparts are white with yellow flanks .
the wings and tail are dark , and there are two white wing bars on each wing .
the eyes have white irises , and are surrounded by yellow spectacles .
sexes are similar .
the white-eyed vireo's song is a variable and rapid six to seven note phrase , starting and ending with a sharp chick .
during the breeding season , the diet of this species consists almost exclusively of insects , primarily caterpillars .
in the autumn and winter it supplements its diet of insects with berries .
several subspecies are recognized for the white-eyed vireo .
geographic ranges for subspecies are not entirely clear .
the northern subspecies , v .
g .
noveboracensis , occupies most of the range of this species and is fully migratory .
this sub-species is larger and has more brightly colored plumage than all other subspecies .
the resident southeastern coastal plain race , v .
g .
griseus is a slightly smaller and duller colored subspecies .
it does not typically migrate out of its breeding range in the winter .
the resident florida keys race , v .
g .
maynardi , is greyer above and whiter below , and the south texan v .
g .
micrus is like a smaller maynardi .
v .
g .
bermudianus , is endemic to bermuda .
this has shorter wings and a duller plumage .
along with other endemic and native bermudian birds , it was threatened with extinction following the loss of 8 million bermuda cedar trees in the 1940s , and is now quite rare .
