A drab olive or olive-grey bird, the mangrove vireo has yellow lores and two white wing bars.

[2] There are two disjunct populations of this vireo: Caribbean and Pacific.

The Caribbean population has both yellow and grey colour phases, while the Pacific population has no colour phases.

[3] There are 10 known subspecies:[3][4][5][6] It is found in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

The Pacific population is restricted, as the name suggests, to mangroves, while the Caribbean population occupies a wider range of habitats.