Yellow-throated Vireo

 The yellow-throated vireo is a small song bird that breeds through out much of the eastern United States. Minnesota, where these pictures where taken, is on the western edge of their range. They prefer forest habitats where they can glean insect from foliage. Insects are their primary food source although they will also eat seeds and fruit. During the winter they migrate down to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and northern portions of South America.

 The yellow-throated vireo is one of the most colorful vireo found in North America. They are primarily solitary coming together only for mating and raising their young. Nests are built in trees and are usually made from a combination of bark, vegetation, pine needles, spider webs and hair.

White-faced Ibis

The white-faced ibis is medium sized wading bird with a diverse breeding range. They breed further north than other species of ibis, breeding as far north as the Canadian border. They breed as far south as central Argentina. In between they are found in the western plains of the United States, California, the Gulf Coast, Mexico and throughout the Central portion of South America. Birds in the northern portion of the range migrate south for the winter. Those breeding along the Gulf Coast, southern California, Mexico and South America are typically year round residents. The white-faced ibis looks similar to the glossy ibis except for the white outline around the face which is where they got their name.

Violet-green Swallow

 Each time we go to Yellowstone we look for violet-green swallows around the Old Faithful area. As with many types of swallows they like to nest under the eaves of building and there are plenty of spots around Old faithful for them to nest. The violet-green swallow is a bird that is found through out the western half of North America. They breed as far north as Alaska and as far south as Mexico. Since they eat primarily insects which they catch in the air most of them migrate south for the winter down into Mexico and Central America where there are plenty of bugs to eat. Birds that breed in parts of Mexico are typically year round residents. Even though they seem to breed in Yellowstone we do not see them every time that we go. It usually depends on how long the winter lasted, whether they have returned by the time we arrive at the end of May. This year we found none at Old Faithful but there were quite a few flying around West Yellowstone where we stayed.