Blue-headed Vireo nests

 

A Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius) with a piece of redtop grass (Tridens flavus). He or she - males help with nest construction, but the sexes look very similar - was constructing a nest nearby. This was in the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. I made this image on April 30, 2017.

I gave a talk entitled Natural Ohio: Through the Lens for the Ohio Wildlife Center last Thursday night. We ranged through some of Ohio's best remaining natural areas, and the flora and fauna that make them special. It was a good chance to dust off lots of images from the past, such as the two vireo shots presented here.

I made this shot WAY back when, on May 1, 2011. A pair of Blue-headed Vireos were constructing this nest deep in Shawnee State Forest, in Scioto County, Ohio.

Vireo nests are works of art. I don't think many humans could craft such a fine nest, even with two hands and ten fingers. How these birds do it with their bill, and some assistance from their feet and body, is amazing. The nest is usually located at the fork of two slender twigs, but fairly low in the host tree. They are tough/impossible for many predators to reach, such as Black Ratsnakes (Pantherophis alleghaniensis). 

Yes, I know the snake's name has been changed - so many times it's tough to keep track of. iNaturalist is now calling it the Central Ratsnake. Prior to that, it was the equally stupidly named Gray Ratsnake. C'mon, herpetologists, get your act together. I'd suggest re-renaming it back to Black Ratsnake - the name that it seems most people know and love and persist in using. A nomenclatural rebellion against a particularly dumb series of name changes - an uprisal by the masses that should be listened to.

Anyway, the vireo's artistic cup is cleverly crafted from a variety of grasses and various forbs, and lined with soft plant down and other felty botanical material. Not a bad place for a baby vireo to grow up, and we need all of the baby vireos that we can get.