El Salvador (NB), Guatemala (NB), Honduras (NB), Mexico (B) (NB), Nicaragua (NB), USA (B).
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 1,500,000 (2010) and decreasing.
Status LC
Habitat loss and modifications through agricultural spread, logging and housing developments, brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) are the main threats.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii) [XC804068]
by Paul Joseph Hurtado from Peabody WMA, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, United States (song)
Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii) [XC700700]
by Robert Benson from Gillespie Wash, Graham County, Arizona, United States (begging call, song)
Subspecies
Possibly most closely related to Black-capped Vireo (Vireo atricapilla), but may be closest to White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus).
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
bellii Audubon, 1844 - Breeds central and southern USA (from North Dakota east to Indiana, south to central Texas); migrates to Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and (rarely) extreme north-western Nicaragua.
pusillus Coues, 1866 - Breeds southern California south to extreme north-western Mexico (north-western Baja California); migrates to southern Baja California.
arizonae Ridgway, 1903 - Breeds south-western USA (southern Nevada, south-western Utah, north-western Arizona and south-western New Mexico) south to north-western Mexico (north-eastern Baja California and Sonora); migrates to western Mexico (central and southern Sonora south to Jalisco, rarely to central Michoachán).
medius Oberholser, 1903 - Breeds south-central USA (southern New Mexico, south-western Texas) south to north-central Mexico (south to San Luis Potosí, probably south-western Tamaulipas, possibly south-western Durango); migrates to western Mexico.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet