Bell’s Vireo

What to look for

Overall color. Quite drab. Midwestern birds show olive on back and yellow wash on flanks, while southwestern birds are grayer.

Wing pattern. Two very narrow whitish wingbars, the upper one often quite faint.

Face. Weak pattern with broken eye-ring, stronger above eye than below, and short, narrow eyebrow, mostly above the lores.

Tail. Varies with geography. Longer in California and Arizona, where birds often flip tail from side to side. Shorter in Midwest, where birds often hold tail still or bob it up and down.

At the age of 58,, John James Audubon set out in 1843 on one last expedition to look for new birds. Traveling up the Missouri River with a team of younger naturalists, he did find species new to him, including a few that were new to science. One such novelty was a vireo that he named for expedition member John G. Bell, “an excellent companion in our not unperilous rambles.”