- Icterus spurius
Identification
9-10 in. Chestnut underneath, black head, back, tail, and wings, thin straight bill. Females and immatures are olive-green above with two white wing-bars and yellowish underparts; immature males have a dark throat.
Distribution
Eastern United States from eastern Montana and eastern New Mexico east and north to southern Michigan, central New York, and Massachusetts south into central Mexico; absent from southern Florida. Recent results suggest that at least part of the US population after having bred in early parts of summer migrates to north-western Mexico where a second round of breeding takes place.
Winters in Central America south to Colombia and Venezuela. Rare to casual vagrant in western United States.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Habitat
Trees along streams, rivers and lakes, and on farms and parklands.
Behaviour
The diet includes insects, berries and nectar; also flower parts.
They build a deep, hanging cup nest, although woven of grass fibres, hidden within dense foliage, often in a dense cluster of trees. The young leave the nest 11 to 14 days after hatching.
References
- Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
- Paper describing migration to second breeding area
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Orchard Oriole. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 14 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Orchard_Oriole
