General

Orchard Oriole: Small oriole with black head, back, and tail, and chestnut-orange shoulder patches, underparts, and rump. Wings are black with single broad white bar; flight feathers have white edges. Female has olive-green upperparts, yellow underparts, and two white wing-bars. Juvenile male resembles female but has black bib and face.

Range and 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.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

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

Interesting Facts

 The Orchard Oriole is the smallest North American oriole.

 Its species name, spurious, means "illegitimate" in Latin, probably because of its resemblance to the Northern oriole in early descriptions.

 It is a late spring migrant, but it heads back southward quickly. Some orioles may return to their wintering grounds as early as mid-July.

 A group of orchard orioles are collectively known as a "harvest" of orioles.

Author

Gary Owen Dick