SHRIKE-VIREO

any of three species of tropical American songbirds, characterized by a stout, slightly hooked bill (like the true shrikes, family Laniidae) but with anatomical features that ally them with the vireos (family Vireonidae). Shrike-vireos are usually considered a distinct family, Vireolaniidae (order Passeriformes), but some authorities include them in the vireos. The emerald shrike-vireo and Baird's shrike-vireo are greenish above and yellow below, with a stripe of green or yellow through the eye. The chestnut-sided shrike-vireo is much more subdued in colouring, greenish brown above, white below, with a gray head and both black and yellow stripes through the eye. They range in length from 13 to 17 1/2 centimetres (5 1/2 to 7 inches). They inhabit young or mature forest from southern Mexico to central Brazil and Peru.