New World oriole

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New World orioles
Baltimore Oriole.jpg
Baltimore oriole, Icterus galbula
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Icteridae
Genus: Icterus
Brisson, 1760
Type species
Oriolus icterus (Venezuelan troupial)
Linnaeus, 1766
Species

See text

New World orioles are a group of birds in the genus Icterus of the blackbird family. Unrelated to Old World orioles of the family Oriolidae, they are strikingly similar in size, diet, behavior, and strongly contrasting plumage. As a result, the two have been given the same vernacular name.

Contents

Males are typically black and vibrant yellow or orange with white markings, females and immature birds duller. They molt annually. New World orioles are generally slender with long tails and a pointed bill. They mainly eat insects, but also enjoy nectar and fruit. The nest is a woven, elongated pouch. Species nesting in areas with cold winters are strongly migratory, while subtropical and tropical species are more sedentary.

The name "oriole" was first recorded (in the Latin form oriolus) by the German Dominican friar Albertus Magnus in about 1250, which he stated to be onomatopoeic, from the song of the European golden oriole.

One of the species in the genus, Bahama oriole, is critically endangered.

The genus Icterus was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the Venezuelan troupial as the type species. [1] [2] The name is the Latin word for a yellow bird, probably the Eurasian golden oriole. [3]

The genus name Icterus, as used by classical authors, referred to a bird with yellow or green plumage. Icterus is from Greek ἴκτερος (íkteros, “jaundice”); the ictērus was a bird the sight of which was believed to cure jaundice, perhaps the Eurasian golden oriole. [4] Brisson re-applied the name to the New World birds because of their similarity in appearance. [5]

Species list

The genus contains 32 extant species. [6]

ImageCommon NameScientific nameDistribution
Scott's Oriole (Icterus parisorum) (14083421122).jpg Scott's oriole Icterus parisorumSouthwestern United States and south to Baja California Sur and central Mexico.
Icterus chrysater Turpial montanero Yellow-backed Oriole (14868781704).jpg Yellow-backed oriole Icterus chrysaterBelize, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela.
Audubon's Oriole National Butterfly Center Mission TX 2018-03-04 15-14-28-2 (39971535194).jpg Audubon's oriole Icterus graduacaudawesternmost range extends from Nayarit south to southern Oaxaca, whereas the eastern range stretches from the lower Rio Grande valley to northern Querétaro
Icterus leucopteryx -San Andres, Archipelago of San Andres, Colombia -juvenile-8.jpg Jamaican oriole Icterus leucopteryxJamaica and on the Colombian island of San Andrés
Icterus auratus 60726713.jpg Orange oriole Icterus auratusthe Yucatán Peninsula and far northern Belize
Altamira Oriole National Butterfly Center Mission TX 2018-03-12 08-38-00 (39174878290).jpg Altamira oriole Icterus gularissubtropical lowlands of the Mexican Gulf Coast and northern Central America, the Pacific coast and inland
Icterus nigrogularis Turpial amarillo Yellow Oriole (8495625798).jpg Yellow oriole Icterus nigrogularisnorthern South America in Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, the Guianas and parts of northern Brazil, (northern Roraima state, and eastern Amapá)
Bullock's Oriole.jpg Bullock's oriole Icterus bullockiias far north as British Columbia in Canada and as far south as Sonora or Durango in Mexico
Icterus pustulatus 1.jpg Streak-backed oriole Icterus pustulatusCosta Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and an occasional visitor to the Southwestern United States
Icterus abeillei 60979467.jpg Black-backed oriole Icterus abeilleiMexico.
Baltimore Oriole- dorsum.jpg Baltimore oriole Icterus galbulaCanadian Prairies and eastern Montana in the northwest eastward through southern Ontario, southern Quebec and New Brunswick and south through the eastern United States to central Mississippi and Alabama and northern Georgia.
Icterus mesomelas.jpg Yellow-tailed oriole Icterus mesomelassouthern Mexico to western Peru and northwestern Venezuela
Icterus pectoralis-- the Spot-breasted Oriole (24184797909).jpg Spot-breasted oriole Icterus pectoralisCosta Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.
White Edged Oriole RWD2.jpg White-edged oriole Icterus graceannaeEcuador and Peru.
Corrupiao - Icterus jamacai.JPG Campo troupial Icterus jamacaiinortheastern Brazil
Curacao-Icterus-Icterus-2013.JPG Venezuelan troupial Icterus icterusColombia, Venezuela, and the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, and Puerto Rico.
Orange-backed Troupial (Icterus croconotus) (28557678726).jpg Orange-backed troupial Icterus croconotusGuyana, Brazil, Paraguay, and eastern Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru
Bar-winged Oriole - Chiapas - Mexico S4E7324 (23521447649).jpg Bar-winged oriole Icterus maculialatusEl Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
Black-vented Oriole (Icterus wagleri) (8079398668).jpg Black-vented oriole Icterus wagleriEl Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the United States.
Hooded Oriole (34135625394).jpg Hooded oriole Icterus cucullatusBaja California Sur, the Mexican east coast, and Belize.
Black-cowled Oriole.jpg Black-cowled oriole Icterus prosthemelaseastern half of mainland Central America.
Orchard Oriole by Dan Pancamo 2.jpg Orchard oriole Icterus spuriusUnited States, Mexico
Cuban Oriole .cu (3).jpg Cuban oriole Icterus melanopsisisland of Cuba and the neighboring Isla de la juventud
Bahama Oriole.jpg Bahama oriole Icterus northropithe Bahamas.
Martinique oriole Icterus bonanaMartinique, French West Indies
Icterus portoricensis imported from iNaturalist photo 6037125 on 4 September 2019.jpg Puerto Rican oriole Icterus portoricensisPuerto Rico
Icterus oberi -London Zoo, England-8a.jpg Montserrat oriole Icterus oberiLesser Antilles of the West Indies,
Saint Lucia oriole Icterus laudabilismain island of St. Lucia
Icterus dominicensis.jpg Hispaniolan oriole Icterus dominicensisHispaniola.
Orange-crowned Oriole - Darien - Panama (48444344772).jpg Orange-crowned oriole Icterus auricapilluseastern Panama, Colombia and Venezuela.
Encontro (Icterus pyrrhopterus) (17772698624).jpg Variable oriole Icterus pyrrhopterusArgentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Epaulet Oriole - Pantanal - Brazil H8O1352 (23781001732).jpg Epaulet oriole Icterus cayanensisBolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname.

One extinct species, the Talara troupial (Icterus turmalis), is known from fossil remains recovered from the Talara Tar Seeps of northwestern Peru, and likely went extinct during the late Quaternary. It may have been a close associate of Pleistocene megafauna communities, and may have gone extinct following their collapse in populations. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Oriolus</i> Genus of birds

Orioles are colourful Old World passerine birds in the genus Oriolus, the type genus of the corvoidean family Oriolidae. They are not closely related to the New World orioles, which are icterids that belong to the superfamily Passeroidea.

<i>Garrulus</i> Genus of birds

Garrulus is a genus of Old World jays, passerine birds in the family Corvidae.

<i>Pica</i> (genus) Genus of birds

Pica is a genus of seven species of birds in the family Corvidae in both the New World and the Old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curlew</span> Genus of birds

The curlews are a group of nine species of birds in the genus Numenius, characterised by their long, slender, downcurved bills and mottled brown plumage. The English name is imitative of the Eurasian curlew's call, but may have been influenced by the Old French corliu, "messenger", from courir , "to run". It was first recorded in 1377 in Langland's Piers Plowman "Fissch to lyue in þe flode..Þe corlue by kynde of þe eyre". In Europe "curlew" usually refers to one species, the Eurasian curlew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turnstone</span> Genus of birds

Turnstones are two bird species that comprise the genus Arenaria in the family Scolopacidae. They are closely related to calidrid sandpipers and might be considered members of the tribe Calidriini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore oriole</span> Species of bird

The Baltimore oriole is a small icterid blackbird common in eastern North America as a migratory breeding bird. It received its name from the resemblance of the male's colors to those on the coat-of-arms of 17-th century Lord Baltimore. Observations of interbreeding between the Baltimore oriole and the western Bullock's oriole Icterus bullockii, led to both being classified as a single species, called the northern oriole, from 1973 to 1995. Research by James Rising, a professor of zoology at the University of Toronto, and others showed that the two birds actually did not interbreed significantly.

<i>Pluvialis</i> Genus of birds

Pluvialis is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds comprising four species that breed in the temperate or Arctic Northern Hemisphere.

<i>Vanellus</i> Genus of birds

Vanellus is the genus of waders which provisionally contains all lapwings except red-kneed dotterel, Erythrogonys cinctus. The name "vanellus" is Latin for "little fan", vanellus being the diminutive of vannus. The name is in reference to the sound lapwings' wings make in flight.

<i>Gallinago</i> Genus of birds

Gallinago is a genus of birds in the wader family Scolopacidae, containing 18 species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cowbird</span> Genus of birds

Cowbirds are birds belonging to the genus Molothrus in the family Icteridae. They are of New World origin, and are obligate brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venezuelan troupial</span> Species of bird

The Venezuelan troupial is the national bird of Venezuela. It is found in Colombia, Venezuela, and the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, Trinidad, and Puerto Rico. Together with the orange-backed troupial and campo troupial, it was previously part of a superspecies simply named the troupial that was split.

<i>Euphagus</i> Genus of birds

Euphagus is a small genus of American blackbirds. It contains two extant species: Brewer's blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus, and rusty blackbird E. carolinus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-naped oriole</span> Species of bird

The black-naped oriole is a passerine bird in the oriole family that is found in many parts of Asia. There are several distinctive populations within the wide distribution range of this species and in the past the slender-billed oriole was included as a subspecies. Unlike the Indian golden oriole which only has a short and narrow eye-stripe, the black-naped oriole has the stripe broadening and joining at the back of the neck. Males and females are very similar although the wing lining of the female is more greenish. The bill is pink and is stouter than in the golden oriole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montserrat oriole</span> Species of bird

The Montserrat oriole is a medium-sized black-and-yellow icterid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oriole blackbird</span> Species of bird

The oriole blackbird is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. Its genus, Gymnomystax, is monotypic. It is a medium-sized yellow and black bird found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and swamps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campo troupial</span> Species of bird

The campo troupial or campo oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae that is found in northeastern Brazil. At one time thought to be conspecific with the Venezuelan troupial and orange-backed troupial, it is now accepted as a separate species. It is a fairly common bird and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as a "least-concern species".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orange-backed troupial</span> Species of bird

The orange-backed troupial is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is found in Guyana, Brazil, Paraguay, and eastern Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru. It is closely related to the Venezuelan troupial and Campo troupial, and at one time, all three were considered to be the same species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hispaniolan oriole</span> Species of oriole endemic to Hispanola

The Hispaniolan oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.

The convex-billed cowbird is an extinct species of bird in the family Icteridae, described in 1947 by Alden H. Miller. It is the only member of its genus, Pandanaris.

There are three extant species of bird in the genus Icterus that are named troupial, formerly considered one species:

References

  1. Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés (in French and Latin). Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1 p. 30, Vol. 2 p. 85.
  2. Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, ed. (1968). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 14. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 149.
  3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 201–202. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. ictĕrus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  5. Newton, Alfred (1911). "Icterus"  . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  6. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2023). "Oropendolas, orioles, blackbirds". IOC World Bird List Version 13.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  7. Steadman, David W.; Oswald, Jessica A. (July 2020). "New species of troupial (Icterus) and cowbird (Molothrus) from ice-age Peru". The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. 132 (1): 91–103. doi:10.1676/1559-4491-132.1.91. ISSN   1559-4491.