Orchard Oriole

Icterus spurius

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family ICTERIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

The smallest North American oriole, the Orchard Oriole is found nesting in shade trees along streams, rivers and lakes, and on farms and parklands. The rich chestnut color of the adult male can be so dark that he may appear all black before you get your binoculars on him.

Cool Facts

• Only loosely territorial, the Orchard Oriole is often described as a "semicolonial" species in areas of prime habitat, but it is relatively solitary in marginal habitats. In areas of dense nesting, one tree may contain multiple nests.
• The Orchard Oriole is a rather late spring migrant, but it heads back southward quickly. Some orioles may return to their wintering grounds as early as mid-July.

• The Orchard Oriole eats nectar and pollen from flowers, especially during the winter. It is an important pollinator for some tropical tree species, transferring the pollen from flower to flower on its head.

Description

• Size: 15-18 cm (6-7 in)
• Wingspan: 25 cm (10 in)
• Weight: 16-28 g (0.56-0.99 ounces)

• Small oriole, medium-sized songbird.
• Long tail.
• Thin, pointed bill.
• Wingbars.
• Adult male deep brick red with all-black head, back, and tail.
• Female and yearling male yellow-green, male with black bib.

• Eyes dark brown.
• Legs bluish black.

Sex Differences

Adult male deep brick red with black head. Female all greenish yellow. Yearling male yellow with black bib.

Male

Head all black. Tail, back, and most of wings black. Breast, belly, rump, and shoulder dark chestnut. One thin white wingbar; other wing feathers edged in white.

Female

Bright greenish yellow below. Olive-green above. Wings brownish with two narrow white wingbars.

Immature

Similar to adult female. First-year male yellow like female but with black throat patch and occasionally some chestnut feathers on body.

Similar Species

• Baltimore Oriole male similarly patterned, but bright orange, not deep brick red, and with orange in tail. Female and immature male light orange, not yellow.
• Hooded Oriole female and first-year male similar to female and first-year male Orchard Oriole, but has longer tail, longer, more down-curved bill, and lacks a distinct second wingbar.
• Female and immature Scott's Oriole darker overall with streaks on back, larger and heavier bodied, and with longer, straighter bill.

Sound

Song a rich, whistled warbling with some guttural notes, ending with a slurred "wheer." Calls include a soft "chuk" and a rapid chatter.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from very southern Saskatchewan eastward to southern New Hampshire, southward to western Texas, central Mexico, and northern Florida.

Winter Range

Winters from southern Mexico southward through Central America to northwestern South America.

Habitat

Nests in gardens, orchards, suburban areas, along streams and lakes, and in large planted trees near houses. In winter found in tropical forests.

Food

Insects, spiders, nectar, and fruit.

Behavior

Foraging

Searches for insects among leaves and twigs. Often perched near ground, but rarely on ground. Probes flowers for nectar.

Reproduction

Nest Type

An open cup of woven grass, lined with fine grass, plant down, wool, and feathers, suspended from fork of tree branch far out on limb.

Egg Description

Light blue with blackish markings.

Clutch Size

3-7 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless with tufts of pale gray down.

Conservation Status

Generally common, but may be declining in some areas.

Other Names

Oriole des vergers (French)
Bolsero castaño, Calandria café, Pararo de huertos, Turpial de huertos (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Scharf, W. C., and J. Kren. 1996. Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius). In The Birds of North America, No. 255 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.