bcvi's Identifications

Black-capped Vireo

Vireo atricapilla
male - color banded
Gainer Tract,
Balcones Canyonlands N.W.R.,
Williamson Co., Texas
20 April 2007

This bird has an interesting story. When I found and photographed it, I realized it was color banded. I have a close friend on the refuge staff and he told me they had not been doing any Black-capped Vireo banding on the refuge in many years, so they were very interested in this bird. On 24 April 2007, this individual was mist netted by staff of BCNWR. It had originally been banded as a nestling in 2005 at Fort Hood, Texas, so this was a TY (third year) bird. This was an important discovery in the work being done with this species, in that this bird was proven to have been hatched 60 miles north at Fort Hood and was now at BCNWR holding a territory. This was the first time that it was documented that a Black-capped Vireo banded at one location later set up a territory at an entirely different location.

I co-authored a paper about this occurrence:

Cimprich, David A., Charles W. Sexton, P. Kelly McDowell, Greg Lasley, and William S. Simper. 2009. Long-Distance dispersal records for the Black-capped Vireo. Bull.
Texas Ornithological Soc. 42 (1 & 2): 44-47.