09/05/2026
If you’re out wandering the thickets and forest edges of eastern Kentucky this first week of September, keep your ears (and eyes) peeled for the White-eyed Vireo.
These little olive-and-yellow gems are still hanging around after breeding season.
By now the young ones have left the nest and are dispersing through the underbrush, hopping quietly from branch to branch in the dense scrubby spots they love—overgrown pastures, streamside thickets, briar patches, you name it.
They’re super secretive this time of year, so you’re way more likely to hear that sharp, jumbled “chick-a-per-wee-o-chick!” song than actually see them.
Singing usually quiets down during their late-summer molt, but a lot of them fire back up in late August and early September. You’ll still catch males belting it out from the edges of the understory, even on hot afternoons.
For now, they’re busy stocking up on caterpillars, beetles, spiders, and whatever insects they can glean from the leaves… and they’re starting to snack more on berries too as they get ready for the big trip south.
Fall migration for these guys really kicks into gear mid-September through mid-October, so right now they’re in that in-between mode—local birds lingering, some already starting to move. As nocturnal travelers, you might even hear their soft call notes drifting down on clear nights.
Next time you’re hiking those eastern Kentucky trails or just poking around a brushy field edge, slow down and listen.
That bright white eye surrounded by yellow “spectacles” is one of the best little surprises of early fall :)
Photos by Sally Wildrick of Best Life Birding captured on my mighty mirrorless monster, the Canon USA
