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Orchard Oriole

Icterus spurius

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Blackbirds and Orioles (Icteridae)

Code 4

OROR

Code 6

ICTSPU

ITIS

179064

ILLUSTRATION

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PHOTOS

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CONSERVATION STATUS

Least-Concern

The Orchard Oriole has a large range reaching up to 4,800,000 square kilometers. This bird can be found in the United States, Venezuela, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands. It inhabits both subtropical and tropical forests, savannas and plantations. The global population of this bird is estimated to be around 4,300,000 individuals. Currently, it is not believed that the population trends for this species will soon approach the minimum levels that could suggest a potential decline in population. Due to this, population trends for the Orchard Oriole have a present evaluation level of Least Concern.

VOTE: ILLUSTRATION

Rate this Illustration: Excellent Very Good Good
Fair Below Avg Poor

ADVERTISMENT
Jelly Jar Jelly Feeder
The orange "blossum" replaces the lid of a jelly jar.
Attract Orioles with Fruit
Sliced orange secures easily to the center of the ring. Low cost.
Attract with Nectar
Hex shaped nectar feeds several Orioles. Nectar kept in fridge.
Charm and Attraction
Lovely copper umbrella keeps fruit cool and looks great.

SUMMARY

Overview

Orchard Oriole: Small oriole, black head, back, tail, and chestnut-orange shoulder patches, underparts, rump. Wings are black with single broad white bar; flight feathers have white edges. Feeds on insects, fruits, berries, nectar and flowers. Swift direct flight on rapid wing beats.


Range and Habitat

Orchard Oriole: Breeds from southern parts of the Canadian prairie provinces, southern Ontario, central New York, and southern New England south to northern Florida, the Gulf coast, Texas, and central Mexico. Spends winters in Central America and northwestern South America. Inhabits open woodlands, areas of open second-growth, orchards, suburban streets, riparian areas, and scattered groves of trees.

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SONGS AND CALLS

Listen to Call

Orchard Oriole

Similar Sounding

Baltimore Oriole Voice

Voice Text

"look here, what cheer, wee yo, what cheer, whip yo, what wheer", "chuck", "chuh-huh-huh-huh"

INTERESTING FACTS

  • The Orchard Oriole is the smallest North American oriole.
  • Its species name, spurious, means "illegitimate" in Latin, probably because of its resemblance to the Northern oriole in early descriptions.
  • It is a late spring migrant, but it heads back southward quickly. Some orioles may return to their wintering grounds as early as mid-July.
  • A group of orchard orioles are collectively known as a "harvest" of orioles.

RELATED BIRDS

RANGE MAP

Range Map for Orchard Oriole

TERMINOLOGY

Bird Term Glossary

CREDITS

Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Irina Rud-Volga

BIRD PHOTO SHARING

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY AND CAMERAS

BINOCULARS AND OPTICS FOR BIRDING

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UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
Flight feathersX
Located on the wing, and collectively called remiges (singular, remex). The long stiff feathers are subdivided into two major groups based on the location and are called primaries and secondaries.
RumpX
The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.
ShoulderX
The short feathers overlying the median secondary coverts on the top of the wing. They are located near the back and can be seen as the “first row” of feathers on the birds wing. They are also called marginal coverts and lesser secondary coverts.
RiparianX
Relating to or living or located on the bank of a natural watercourse (as a river) or sometimes of a lake or a tidewater. 
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX