The aptly-named red-eyed vireo, this little guy dwells in forest stands and feeds on insects throughout the summer season. Described by the Cornell Bird Guide as “a tireless songster,” their voice is one of the most common during their tenure of northeastern Pennsylvania’s woods.
But in my experience, the red-eyed vireo is often heard but seldom seen. This past year I began experimenting with Cornell’s Merlin app, which listens via your phone’s microphone, and then provides a report of the birds it was able to identify, based on their vocalizations. It’s an amazing bit of technology, which is helping me become somewhat more fluent in knowing who is around based on their calls.
Red-eyed vireos were detected in almost every instance where I used Merlin, but despite that frequency I had only this one sighting. My guess is that this is primarily due to the vireo’s preference for the forest; it is much easier to spot birds at the margins, along a woodline or within a field, than it is within the forest itself.