- Oriolus sagittatus
Identification
25–28 cm (9¾-11 in)
- Olive-green head and back
- Grey wings and tail
- Cream underparts, streaked with brown
- Oliv-grey upper tail-coverts
- Bright red eye
- Reddish beak
Females can be distinguished from males by a paler bill, duller-green back, and an extension of the streaked underparts up to the chin.
Distribution
Australia and New Guinea.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 4 subspecies[1]:
- O. s. magnirostris:
- Lowlands of southern New Guinea
- O. s. affinis:
- North Australia, (Broome, Western Australia to north-western Queensland)
- O. s. grisescens:
- North Queensland (Cape York Peninsula and islands of southern Torres Strait)
- O. s. sagittatus:
- East Australia (northern Queensland to Victoria and south-eastern South Australia)
Habitat
Semi-open woodlands and eucalypt forests.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet consists of fruit, berries, seeds, nectar and insects. They will occasionally take the nestlings of small birds.
Breeding
The female builds a cup-shaped nest of bark and grass, bound with spider webs. This is attached by its rim to a horizontal fork on the outer-edge of the foliage of a tree or tall shrub. The female incubates the eggs alone, while the male helps to feed the young.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Mar 2018)
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Olive-backed Oriole. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Olive-backed_Oriole
External Links
Search the Gallery using the scientific name:
Search the Gallery using the common name:
"Olive-backed Oriole"
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