Yellow-tailed Oriole
Encyclopedia
The Yellow-tailed Oriole, Icterus mesomelas, is a passerine
bird
in the New World
family Icteridae. It breeds from southern Mexico
to western Peru
and northwestern Venezuela
; in Peru it also lives in a river valley corridor
.
The Yellow-tailed Oriole is 22-23 cm long and weighs 70 g. It is mainly yellow with a black back, lower face and upper breast. The wings are black with a yellow epaulet and the tail is black with yellow sides. This is the only oriole with prominent yellow in the tail, hence the species’ name. The sexes are similar, but young birds have the black on the back and tail replaced with olive-green.
There are four subspecies.
The calls of this species include a chick and a weechaw. The song is a melodic repetition of rich whistles, chuck, chuck-yeeaow. It is often given as a duet, with the female’s response following or overlapping the male’s longer phrases.
This large oriole
inhabits dense thickets, often with vines, Heliconia
s and similar dense growths, in swampy lowlands. The birds forage in pairs or small groups in denser vegetations than most orioles, mainly feeding on insect
s, although they will also take nectar and certain fruits such as Gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba).
It builds a deep but thin cup nest 2 m high in a thorny scrub by a stream. It lays three dark-blotched white eggs, which hatch in 13 days with a further 14 days to fledging.
The Yellow-tailed Oriole is fairly common except in Peru and Venezuela, but is reducing in numbers in parts of its range because of persecution by the cage-bird trade; this species is valued for both its appearance and its beautiful song.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
family Icteridae. It breeds from southern Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to western Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and northwestern Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
; in Peru it also lives in a river valley corridor
Wildlife corridor
A wildlife corridor or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities . This allows an exchange of individuals between populations, which may help prevent the negative effects of inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity that often occur within...
.
The Yellow-tailed Oriole is 22-23 cm long and weighs 70 g. It is mainly yellow with a black back, lower face and upper breast. The wings are black with a yellow epaulet and the tail is black with yellow sides. This is the only oriole with prominent yellow in the tail, hence the species’ name. The sexes are similar, but young birds have the black on the back and tail replaced with olive-green.
There are four subspecies.
- Nominate I. m. mesomelas, Mexico to HondurasHondurasHonduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, has yellow fringes to the tertials - I. m. salvinii, CaribbeanCaribbeanThe Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
lowlands of NicaraguaNicaraguaNicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
and Costa RicaCosta RicaCosta Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, has no yellow fringes to the tertials and is more orange than the nominate race. - I. m. carrikeri, PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and northwestern Venezuela, is like salvinii, but less orange and smaller-billed. - I. m. taczanowskiis, Pacific South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
from EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
to western PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, has white fringes to the tertials.
The calls of this species include a chick and a weechaw. The song is a melodic repetition of rich whistles, chuck, chuck-yeeaow. It is often given as a duet, with the female’s response following or overlapping the male’s longer phrases.
This large oriole
New World oriole
New World orioles, comprising the genus Icterus, are a group of birds in the blackbird family. They are not related to Old World orioles which are in the family Oriolidae, but are strikingly similar in size, diet, behaviour and in their strongly contrasting plumage, and are a good example of...
inhabits dense thickets, often with vines, Heliconia
Heliconia
Heliconia, derived from the Greek word helikonios, is a genus of about 100 to 200 species of flowering plants native to the tropical Americas and the Pacific Ocean islands west to Indonesia. Many species of Heliconia are found in rainforests or tropical wet forests of these regions...
s and similar dense growths, in swampy lowlands. The birds forage in pairs or small groups in denser vegetations than most orioles, mainly feeding on insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, although they will also take nectar and certain fruits such as Gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba).
It builds a deep but thin cup nest 2 m high in a thorny scrub by a stream. It lays three dark-blotched white eggs, which hatch in 13 days with a further 14 days to fledging.
The Yellow-tailed Oriole is fairly common except in Peru and Venezuela, but is reducing in numbers in parts of its range because of persecution by the cage-bird trade; this species is valued for both its appearance and its beautiful song.
See also
- Yellow-tailed Oriole videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- Stamps (for EcuadorEcuadorEcuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
) with RangeMap - Yellow-tailed Oriole photo gallery VIREO Photo-High Res--(Close-up)
- Photo-High Res--(Shows Yellow tail-feathers); Photo no. 2; Article pbase–"Panama Birds"
- Yellow-tailed Oriole species account on the Animal Diversity Web (ADW) of the University of Michigan