- Icterus pyrrhopterus
Identification
Mostly black, the epaulet consisting of the upper wing-coverts. Some subspecies have a yellow epaulet and yellow thighs (e.g., I. c. tibialis) while other sub-species have an ochre-orange epaulet (see second photo).
Distribution
Found in eastern and south-eastern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina.
Taxonomy
Polytypic, consists of four subspecies1:
- I. c. tibialis
- Eastern Brazil
- I. c. valenciobuenoi
- South-eastern Brazil
- I. c. periporphyrus
- I. c. pyrrhopterus
This species was formerly included in Epaulet Oriole.
Habitat
Woodland, thorny scrub and gardens.
Behaviour
The diet includes insects and nectar.
Variable Oriole will build a nest that is a long hanging basket of grass and other plant fibres, suspended from the end of a branch or more often underside of a palm leaf or banana leaf; however, alternative nest placements include within mistletoes and epiphytes or in abandoned nests of Red-rumped Caciques. 2 dark-spotted pale blue or white eggs are laid.
References
- Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
- Sibley, CG and BL Monroe. 1996. Birds of the World, on diskette, Windows version 2.0. Charles G. Sibley, Santa Rosa, CA, USA.
- Birdforum thread discussing the possibility of splitting Variable Oriole from Epaulet Oriole
- Fraga 2011. Variable Oriole breeding in abandoned nests of Red-rumped Caciques in Missiones, Argentina. Ornithologia Neotropical 22: 313-315
- Arthur Grosset
