Red-eyed
Vireo

According to the National Zoo, “the red-eyed vireo holds the record for most number of songs per unit time for a bird species, with 22,197 songs recorded in a 10-hour period.” They sing from dawn until dusk, earning them the old nickname "preacher bird" because their repetitive phrases sound like a Sunday sermon that goes on too long.

Baby and young Red-eyed Vireos are born with brown eyes. Only adults have the red eye color that gives this species its name.

During the spring and summer, these birds are insect lovers that hunt caterpillars in the treetops. When winter arrives in South America, they switch gears to become almost entirely fruit-eaters, feeding on berries like blackberries and elderberries.