Scott's Oriole

Overview

Scott's oriole (Icterus parisorum) is a bird in the family Icteridae found primarily in Mexico and the southwestern United States. Although assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN, its population is believed to be decreasing, and it tends to be uncommon in the U.S.

Identification

• Adult males feature a black head, back, throat, and breast with lemon-yellow underparts below the breast, a pale yellow epaulet on the wings, and a white wing bar.
• Females display a grayish olive upper body with darker streaks, a black chin and throat, and pale olive-yellow underparts.
• Both sexes possess a black or bluish-black bill with a gray base, and slate or grayish-blue legs and feet.
• The song consists of varied short notes and pure whistles interspersed with rapidly modulated ascending and descending frequencies.

Habitat

The species inhabits moderately elevated arid landscapes, such as pinyon–juniper woodland, pine-oak woodland, and scrublands with yucca, ranging in elevation from sea level to 3,000 m. It shuns true deserts that lack trees and is found in the southwestern United States, the Baja California peninsula, and mainland Mexico south to Oaxaca.

Diet

Feeding primarily on adult and larval insects, it also consumes smaller amounts of fruit and nectar, occasionally taking small vertebrates like lizards. It forages on the ground and in vegetation, taking fruit from trees and cacti and nectar from plants or sugar water feeders.

Did you know?

The specific epithet parisorum honours the Paris brothers, who financed French natural history expeditions to the U.S. and Mexico, while the common name 'Scott's' was coined by Darius N. Couch in honour of General Winfield Scott without knowing of the bird's prior description.