ORANGE BIRDS SEEN IN NORTH AMERICA

Baltimore Oriole

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Icterus Galbula

Baltimore Oriole

Males have a black hood, back, wings and tail. Underparts and rump are bright orange. Tail have an orange tip and edges. Wings are black with orange shoulders, and white wing bar. Breast is darker orange than underparts. Eyes are dark. Legs and feet are gray.

Females have dark brown olive head, and body plumage is paler orange than males. Face, throat and underparts are orange. The tail is olive-brown. They have two white wing bars, without orange shoulders. Females are smaller than males.

Juveniles are similar to the females, with males taking until the fall of their second year to reach adult plumage.

BILL: silver-gray and pointed.

SIZE: measures about 6.7 - 7.5 inches in length, with a wingspan of 9.1 - 11.8 inches.

WEIGHT: weighs about 20 -40 grams.

COLOR: orange, black, white, and brown-olive.

Insects, berries, and nectar.

BREEDS: Open areas with tall deciduous trees, in parks and suburban areas, also along woodland edges.

WINTER: Wet forests, in flowering canopy trees.

SUMMER: The Eastern United States, from Wisconsin to Maine, southwards to central Mississippi and Alabama, northern Georgia, and western South and North Carolina.

WINTER: Florida, Caribbean, Central Mexico, and Central America to northern South America. Some populations are in southern California.

CALL: A whistled “hew-li”, and a harsh “cheh”, or series of same.

SONG: A flute-like.

Each bird has a distinct song. Females utter short and simple songs.

NEST: The nest is a woven pouch, hanging from the tip of a tree branch. It is made with fine grasses, fine chips of pliable bark, plant fibers, strings, which is interwoven neatly and securely.

EGGS: 4 - 6 pale gray or pale blue eggs, streaked with dark.

INCUBATION: 12 - 14 days, female.