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Bird name:

Orchard Oriole

Icterus spuriusOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Blackbirds and Orioles (Icteridae)
Codes: Common Name: OROR Scientific Name: ICTSPU ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179064
Orchard Oriole Breeding Adult Portrait
Family Orioles and Blackbirds (Icteridae)_blue
Species Icterus spurius
Length6 - 7.75 Inches
Wingspan9.75 Inches

Orchard Oriole

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.

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

● Foraging & Feeding: Orchard Oriole: Feeds on insects, nectar, flowers, and fruits.

● Breeding & nesting: Orchard Oriole: Three to seven pale blue or gray eggs with gray, purple, or brown spots are laid in a woven pouch of grass lined with plant down. Nest is attached to a fork in a tree or bush. Incubation ranges from 12 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Orchard Oriole: Female and juvenile Hooded Orioles are larger, have longer tails, longer, more down-curved bills, and grayer backs.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
Orchard Oriole Breeding Adult Body Illustration
● Range & 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.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester, Loose colonies
PopulationCommon to fairly common
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.7 Ounces
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