Maroon Oriole - BirdForum Opus

Male, nominate subspecies
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Sat Tal, 5500 ft., Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 21 November 2019

Oriolus traillii

Identification

25·5–28 cm (10-11 in)
Nominate male

• Black head, mantle and upper breast
• Maroon underparts and tail
• Yellow iris
• Grey bill and legs
  

The female is dark grey on the back, a light grey belly with heavy blackish streaks.

Distribution

Female, nominate subspecies
Photo © by Alok Tewari
Sat Tal, 5500 ft., Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 15 November 2019

Asia: China, Tibet, Nepal
South Asia: Pakistan, India, Eastern and Western Himalayas, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Taiwan
Southeast Asia: Indochina, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 4 subspecies^[1]:

• O. t. traillii from the Himalayan foothills to Myanmar, northern Thailand and northern Indochina
• O. t. robinsoni in southern Laos and southern Vietnam
• O. t. nigellicauda in Hainan (southern China); some winter to Indochina and southeastern Thailand
• O. t. ardens on Taiwan

Habitat

Moist deciduous and evergreen forests.

Subspecies O. t. ardens
Photo © by Mark Bruce
Huben, Yunlin County, Taiwan, April, 2008

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists of fruit, especially wild figs, berries, invertebrates such as caterpillars and nectar.

Breeding

They build a large deep cup of woven fibres and grass; it is placed in the fork of a high branch near the tree top. Both adults share the duties of raising the young.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2023. IOC World Bird List (v 13.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.13.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved January 2017)
4. TheWebsiteofeverything

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Maroon Oriole. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Maroon_Oriole

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