Baltimore Oriole

Icterus galbula

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

With its brilliant orange and black plumage, the Baltimore Oriole's arrival is eagerly awaited by birders each spring migration. Its preference for open areas with tall trees has made it a common inhabitant of parks and suburban areas.

Cool Facts

• The Baltimore Oriole hybridizes extensively with the Bullock's Oriole where their ranges overlap in the Great Plains. The two species were considered the same for a while and called the Northern Oriole, but recently, they were separated again. Molecular studies of the oriole genus indicate that the two species are not very closely related.

• The "orioles" of the Americas were named after similarly-appearing birds in the Old World. The American orioles are not closely related to the true orioles in the family Oriolidae. They are more closely related to blackbirds and meadowlarks. Both New and Old world orioles are brightly colored with red, yellow, and black; have long tails and long pointed bills; build hanging, woven nests; and prefer tall trees around open areas.

• Young male Baltimore Orioles do not achieve adult plumage until the fall of their second year. But some first-year males with female-like plumage succeed in attracting a mate and nest successfully.

Description

• Size: 17-19 cm (7-7 in)
• Wingspan: 23-30 cm (9-12 in)
• Weight: 30-40 g (1.06-1.41 ounces)

• Medium-sized songbird.
• Male brilliant orange with black head.

• Long tail.
• Bill rather long and pointed.
• Two wingbars.
• Body yellow to deep orange.

Sex Differences

Male brightly colored with black hood, female duller and without solid black hood.

Male

Head, throat, mantle, wings, and tail black. Underparts, shoulders, tip and edges of tail, and rump orange to yellow orange. May be deeper orange on chest. Single white wingbar; orange shoulder makes a second wingbar. Bill pointed and silvery.

Female

Variable in appearance. May be similar to male, but head more dark brownish olive than black, and body paler orange. Usually face, throat, and underparts orange. Tail brownish olive, without black. White in shoulder gives it two white wingbars.

Immature

Immature similar to female, but paler and without black on head and back. May have gray belly. Young male looks like adult only in second fall.

Similar Species

• Orchard Oriole male is smaller and deep chestnut, not orange; female is greenish yellow, not orange-yellow.
• Bullock's Oriole male has large white patch on wings, orange on face, and a black eyeline for each eye.
• Female Bullock's similar to paler Baltimore female and immature, but is grayer on back, more yellow than orange, has a whitish belly, and its yellow auriculars contrast with its crown. It also has a serrated-appearing upper wingbar, rather than a broad smooth one, and broad whitish edges to greater primary coverts on wing rather than just white tips.

Sound

Song: a series of rich whistled notes interspersed with rattles. Call: a chatter.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds across North America eastward of the Rocky Mountains, from Alberta to Newfoundland, the Dakotas to Maine, southward to eastern Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia.

Winter Range

Winters in Florida, the Caribbean, central Mexico and Central America to northern South America. Also small numbers in southern California.

Habitat

• Breeds along woodland edges and open areas with scattered trees, especially deciduous trees.
• Also in parks and wooded urban areas.
• Winters in humid forests and second growth.

Food

Caterpillars, fruits, insects, spiders, and nectar.

Behavior

Foraging

Gleans and probes in trees for insects.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Gourd-shaped and woven from hair, plant fibers, and synthetic fibers. Hung by the rim from thin branches or a fork in a tall tree.

Egg Description

Pale grayish-white, streaked and blotched with dark lines, heaviest at large end.
Incubation period 11-14 days.

Clutch Size

Usually 4-5 eggs. Range: 3-7.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless, with sparse down.
Chicks fledge in 11-14 days.

Conservation Status

Populations showing slight decrease across range, but populations probably stable. This species should be monitored closely. You can help scientists learn more about this species by participating in the Celebrate Urban Birds! project.

Other Names

Oriole de Baltimore (French)
Bosero de Baltimore (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

1. Lee, C.-T., and A. Birch. 1998. Field identification of female and immature Bullock's and Baltimore orioles. Birding 30: 282-295.
2. Rising, J. D., and N. J. Flood. 1998. Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula). In The Birds of North America, No. 384. (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.