Orchard Oriole

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Orchard Oriole

Adult male

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Icteridae
Genus:	Icterus
Species:	I. spurius

Binomial name

Icterus spurius
(Linnaeus, 1766)

The Orchard Oriole, Icterus spurius, is the smallest species of icterid blackbird at 6.3 inches (16 cm) long and a weight of 20 g. The specific name spurius refers to the original misidentification of the male as a female Baltimore Oriole. These birds are sometimes mistakenly identified as New World warblers.

Immature male

The adult has a pointed bill and white wing bars. The adult male is chestnut on the underparts, shoulder and rump, with the rest of the plumage being black. One-year males are yellow with a black bib. The adult female is olive-green on the upper parts, yellowish on the breast and belly.

The breeding habitat is semi-open areas with deciduous trees across eastern North America south to central Mexico, often near water. The nest is a tightly woven pouch attached to a fork on a horizontal branch. In some parts of their range, they may nest in small colonies.

These birds migrate in flocks for wintering from central Mexico south through Central America to northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela. In the Caribbean, they can often be found on the Bahamas, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

They forage in trees and shrubs, also making short flights to catch insects and feed from flowers. These birds mainly eat insects, particular fruit^[1] and nectar, and also other plantstuff.

[edit] Footnotes

^ E.g. of Trophis racemosa (Moraceae): (Foster 2007).

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Icterus spurius. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
Foster, Mercedes S. (2007): The potential of fruiting trees to enhance converted habitats for migrating birds in southern Mexico. Bird Conservation International 17(1): 45-61. doi:10.1017/S0959270906000554 PDF fulltext
Hilty, Steven L. (2003): Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
Stiles, F. Gary & Skutch, Alexander Frank (1989): A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Comistock, Ithaca. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4