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Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula Calandria Migratoria,
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Male - Photo: E. Horn
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Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula Calandria Migratoria,
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Male - Photo: E. Horn
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IDENTIFICATION: The adult male has a black hood and upper back; the underparts and rump are orange, as are the outer feathers on the otherwise black tail. The female is duller orange below, with a dark brown back, wings and tail. Both sexes have thin white wing bars. Length: 18-20 cm.; weight: 30-40 g. VOICE: The call is a rich, two-note whistle; birds will sometimes sing a series of flute like whistled notes in Puerto Rico before migrating north. Audio (M. Oberle). HABITAT: Open woodlands, dry forests, and gardens. HABITS: Eats mostly insects and spiders, which it gleans from leaves; it occasionally hawks insects in mid-air. It also eats some snails, fruits and nectar. On its nesting grounds in North America, both sexes construct a hanging nest, high in a deciduous tree. The female incubates the 4-5 eggs which are glossy white, blotched with brown. Both sexes feed the young. The female will often destroy Brown-headed Cowbird eggs deposited in her nest. STATUS AND CONSERVATION: A rare winter visitor to Puerto Rico, but reported more regularly from the southwest than elsewhere. On its breeding grounds, populations appear to be stable. RANGE: Breeds from southeastern Canada, south through the eastern United States to northern Alabama and Georgia. It winters from northern Mexico through Central America to northern Colombia, Venezuela and Trinidad, and less commonly in the Greater Antilles and the Virgin Islands. A regular site to find it is at the Parador Hacienda Juanita and Pitahaya in Cabo Rojo. TAXONOMY: PASSERIFORMES; ICTERIDAE. Bullock’s Oriole (Icterus bullockii) which breeds in western North America, was formerly lumped with the Baltimore Oriole, because of evidence of limited interbreeding on the Great Plains. Older books refer to the combined group as the Northern Oriole. |
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Male - Photo: G. Beaton
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Female - Photo: G. Beaton
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Female - Photo: G. Beaton
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References Arendt, W.J. 1992. Status of North American migrant landbirds in the Caribbean region: a summary. Pp. 143-171 in Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds (J.M. Hagan III and D.W. Johnston, eds.) Smithsonian Instit. Press, Washington, D.C. Bent, A.C. 1958. Life histories of North American blackbirds, orioles, tanagers, and allies. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 211. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1965). Jaramillo A. and P. Burke. 1999. New World Blackbirds: The Icterids. Princeton Univ Press. Lee, C.T. and A. Birch. 1998. Field identification of female and immature Bullock’s and Baltimore Orioles. Birding 30:282-295. Lee, C. T. and A. Birch. 2001. Wing coverts as an aid to identifying female and immature Bullock's and Baltimore Orioles---another look. Birding 33(1):61-68. Orians, G. 1985. Blackbirds of the Americas. Univ. of Washington Press, Seattle, WA. Rising, J.D. and N.J. Flood. 1998. Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula). No. 384 in The birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.).The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton. Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR. Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton. Woods, P. 1999. Delayed plumage maturation in orioles. Birding 31(5):416-420. Baltimore Oriole, Spanish text Next species in taxonomic order Previous related species in taxonomic order |