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Hooded Oriole

Icterus cucullatusOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Blackbirds and Orioles (Icteridae)

Hooded Oriole Breeding Adult Portrait
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General

Hooded Oriole: Medium-sized, showy oriole with bright orange-yellow head and nape, and black back, face, throat, and upper breast. Bill is slightly decurved. Black wings have two white bars. Tail is black. Female has olive-gray upperparts and yellow-green underparts. Juvenile is similar to female; male may show black on throat.

Range and Habitat

Hooded Oriole: Breeds from central California, Nevada, central Arizona, southern New Mexico, and southern Texas southward. A few spend winters in southern California and southern Texas. Found in deciduous and riparian woodlands and human habitations, often near ranches or towns.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"wheeat"

Interesting Facts

  • The Hooded Oriole is a social species. They tend to flock with related birds such as the Bullocks Oriole.
  • When the nest is suspended from palm leaves, the female pokes holes in the leaf from below and pushes the fibers through, effectively sewing the nest to the leaf.
  • A group of orioles are collectively known as a "pitch" and a "split" of orioles.


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Hooded Oriole
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Icterus cucullatus
Length7 - 8 Inches
Wingspan11.625 Inches

Hooded Oriole

Hooded Oriole: Medium oriole with bright orange -yellow head and nape, and black back, face, throat, and upper breast. Bill is slightly decurved. Black wings have two white bars. Tail is black. Forages in trees and bushes. Eats insects, caterpillars, and nectar. Strong direct flight.

● Song: "wheeat"

● Foraging & Feeding: Hooded Oriole: Diet consists mostly of fruits, nectar, and insects. Forages in shrubs and trees; uses its pointed bill to pierce flower bases to obtain nectar from agaves, aloes, hibiscus, lilies, and other tubular flowers.

● Breeding & nesting: Hooded Oriole: Three to five white, pale yellow, or pale blue eggs with brown and purple spots are laid in a nest made of leaves and moss, lined with moss, grass, wool, hair, and feathers, and attached to the underside of a leaf or tree branch. Incubation ranges from 12 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Hooded Oriole: Altamira Oriole is larger and has orange shoulders. Bullock's Oriole has white wing patches and black eye-line. Baltimore Oriole has a black head; female is smaller and has shorter tail.

Flight Pattern

Rapidly beating wings., Strong direct flight.
Hooded Oriole Breeding Adult Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Hooded Oriole: Breeds from central California, Nevada, central Arizona, southern New Mexico, and southern Texas southward. A few spend winters in southern California and southern Texas. Found in deciduous and riparian woodlands and human habitations, often near ranches or towns.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.8 Ounces