The westward range movement of Baltimore Orioles is considered to be the result of suitable habitat created as European settlers planted trees on their farms. With the advent of modern agriculture and the plowing of the prairies, Baltimore Orioles have continued to expand west along streams and rivers. In some areas, the Baltimore x Bullock's hybrid zone has shifted westward due to this expansion; in other areas, it is the Bullock's Oriole that seems to be moving eastward. In any event, the zone of hybridization has remained approximately the same width, and orioles within this zone may show intermediate plumage.

Baltimore Oriole Range Map The Baltimore Oriole breeds from Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia south through Dakotas south to eastern Texas, Louisiana and Virginia. Recently the Baltimore Oriole was combined with the western Bullock's Oriole as a single species, the Northern Oriole. When trees were planted on the Great Plains, the two forms extended their ranges and met. Despite the differences in their appearance, it was found that they interbred, and that most birds in the central plains were hybrids, so the birds were combined into a single species. Now, it seems that in some places the birds are choosing mates of their own type, and they are considered separate species again.

Upon return from their Central American wintering grounds in the spring, male Baltimore Orioles begin establishing territories and singing their familiar, loudly whistled song in open woodlands and forest edges, in isolated clumps of tree, and other open areas, often in suburban settings. Individual males tend to sing a unique song. Competing males may countersing, sometimes imitating each other's calls. Males, which precede the arrival of females by two or three days, display to prospective mates with repeated exaggerated bowing, showing alternately their orange belly and then their black back and orange rump. Once a pair is established, both the male and female defend their relatively small territory. The pair maintains contact through calls and song.



Bullock's Oriole
The Bullock' s Oriole will readily visit an inviting yard & often come to a feeder for berries, orange halves, nutmeats, suet and nectar. Many years ago there was the Bullock's Oriole in the West and the Baltimore Oriole in the East, and the two did not overlap. However, when trees were planted on the Great Plains, the two orioles extended their ranges in these new woodlands and came together. Although they were different in appearance, it was found that they mated with each other. For a while they were considered to be eastern and western forms of a single species, but now they are considered separate species again.

Description
Male - Orange face, black eye-line, large white patches on wings and a black cap on head.
Immature fall male yellowish with black throat and eye-line. In spring, male like adult,
but without white patches on wings.
Female - Yellowish head and breast; whitish belly. Immature female like adult.
Call is a melodic collection of six or seven loud whistles in announcing its territory, same as the Baltimore's. A harsh chatter is an alarm call. Both genders sing.

Habitat
Shade trees and woods edges

Food Preferences
Insects, nectar and fruit - especially oranges

Bullock's Oriole Range Map The Bullock's Oriole breeds west of the Great Plains. It's territory takes over, where that of the Baltimore Oriole's leaves off. There is an area of overlap where the two ranges meet. The birds will still sometimes interbreed, although not as often as in the past.

Hooded Oriole
The Hooded Oriole can be described as a neotropical migrant. These birds are typically found in riparian areas. Humans have planted many species of non-native trees. These trees have increased the numbers of nesting sites available for the orioles. As a result the orioles can also be found in some deciduous and riparian woodlands and human habitations, often by ranches or towns.

The Hooded Oriole is a social species. They tend to flock with related birds such as the Bullocks Oriole. Hooded Orioles move around, mostly up and down the southwest coast, while migrating to Mexico in the wintertime.

Jays, ravens and crows prey upon eggs and young nestling Orioles. Adult birds are occasionally preyed upon by various raptor species. Their nests in California become parasitized by both the bronzed cowbird and brown-headed cowbird.

Physical Description
Hooded Orioles are sexually dimorphic. The male has an orange-yellow coloring with a black face, tail, wings and back. The wings on the bird will have two white bars of feathers. While the female has the same two white bars on her wings, her coloring is an olive-green with a yellowish shade underneath. Both male and female are the same in size, ranging from 112-128 cm (7-8 in.) long. The bill of the Hooded Oriole has a slight down curve that comes to a sharp point, enabling them to feed off tubular flowers

Range
Nearctic: Hooded Orioles are found in North America. March through mid-September Hooded Orioles are found from Southern Texas through central California. By the end of September they migrate south to Mexico

Hooded Oriole Range Map The Hooded Oriole breeds from northern coastal and central California, southern Nevada, central Arizona, and western Texas south into northern Mexico. Resident in southern Baja California and throughout mainland Mexico. The Hooded Oriole inhabits palm trees, mesquite, dry shrubs, and some deciduous and riparian woodlands; often found around ranches and towns.

Food Habits
The Hooded Oriole's diet consists mostly of fruit, nectar, and insects. This bird will forage in shrubs and trees to find the insects and fruit. The nectar can be extracted from such plants as agaves, aloes, hibiscus, lilies, and other tubular flowers. That is where their pointed bill becomes useful: it will pierce the base of the flower to obtain the nectar. By doing this it will not pollinate the flower.

Reproduction
Breeding season for this Oriole starts from early April to early May. The male will flutter around the female singing soft melodies with his bill open and pointing upward; the female will respond to the male in the same manner.

The nests can be found in a tall tree, preferably in a fan palm. Other trees regularly used for nesting include cottonwoods, sycamores, live oaks, and eucalyptus. The nest is built 2 - 15 meters (6-45 feet) above ground to protect against any unwanted predators. These nests are penduline (hang from branches )and the nesting chamber is cup shaped about 10 cm (4 inches) in depth and about the same in width. They are suspended by twigs and woven with string, dry vegitation, and any other fiberous materials that can be found. The female is the main builder of these nests; it takes her 3-5 days to complete it.

Typically 3-5 eggs are laid in the nest. The incubation period for those eggs is about 12-14 days, and they incubated only by the female. Their eggs are white, pale yellow or pale blue. They are lightly spotted with a grayish brown coloring. The hatching of the eggs usually takes place mid to late summer. The young are tended to by both parents and will leave the nest about 14 days after being hatched.



Northern Oriole
The birds formerly known as the "Baltimore Oriole" in the east and "Bullock's Oriole" in the west were once thought to be separate species. However, when trees were planted in the Great Plains it was found that the two birds interbreed and most birds of that area have indeed become hybrids. In Lord Baltimore colors, it is one of the brightest local birds and has a voice to match its distinctive plumage. In the east the male has bright orange breast, rump and shoulder patches while the head, back, and wings are black. Females are duller olive brown with dull orange-yellow underparts and two white wing bars. The western male is similar to the eastern male but also orange cheeks and eyebrows and a large white wing patch. The western female is whitish underneath.

The males arrive in early May, trumpeting their rich, mellow notes loud, clear and far-reaching, one of the reassuring notes of the season. The song is a rather disjointed composition of whistled two-note phrases and shorter, softer single notes broken by long pauses. It tends to be quite variable but of the same general quality and tone. Each male has a recognizably different song.

The breeding habitat consists of woodlands and deciduous trees throughout the United States and in Canada along the St Lawrence Seaway and into British Columbia. It is usually absent from the southern states near the Atlantic or Gulf Coasts. They winter from Mexico to South America.

Orioles spend most of their time high in the treetops, one must look closely to spot them. They like tall shade trees in small towns, along country roads and especially favor old elms around farmhouses. Big sycamores along streams are also favored sites. Before the decline of the American Elm it was the favored nesting site by the eastern subspecies.

The courtship ritual consists of the male stretching to its full height and then bowing low with tail spread and wings slightly raised. And if successful the female will build the nest. The nest is characteristic, a woven bag about six inches deep, suspended from a small fork near the end of a drooping branch. It is very substantial, as it must be to withstand the gusty winds of summer storms. The female is indeed one of the most skillful artisans of North American birds. She will readily accept pieces of string or yarn hung out over a fence or porch rail. The nest in the photo was woven almost entirely of yarn.

The clutch consists of 4 to 6 grayish eggs, with brown spots. It is an uncommon Cowbird host and may reject Cowbird eggs. The eggs are incubated by the female for 12 to 14 days and the young leave the nest two weeks later. The diet consists of insects, spiders, and snails as well as buds, nectar and fruit.

Length 7 to 8 1/2 inches



Orchard Oriole
During the breeding season, Orchard Orioles range from the 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. They are most common, however, in the Midwest and Southeast. They occur in open woodlands, areas of open second growth, orchards, suburban streets, in riparian areas, and in scattered groves of trees. They show a preference for nesting near water, often along the shores of lakes and rivers.

Orchard Oriole Range Map During the breeding season, Orchard Orioles range from the 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. They are most common, however, in the Midwest and Southeast. They occur in open woodlands, areas of open second growth, orchards, suburban streets, in riparian areas, and in scattered groves of trees. They show a preference for nesting near water, often along the shores of lakes and rivers.

Orchard Orioles spend most of the year on their wintering grounds in Central America and northwestern South America. Northbound migrants leave the wintering grounds in March and begin arriving in the southern United States as early as late March, reaching the northern parts of their range by mid- to late May. Some migrants journey across the Gulf of Mexico. Orchard Orioles spend only enough time on the breeding grounds to raise a single brood before beginning their southward migration.

Nests form a deep, hanging cup, although not as pendulous as those of Baltimore Orioles (I. Galbula), and are invariably woven of grass fibers. They are usually hidden within dense foliage, often in a dense cluster of trees. In the South, nests are frequently located within clumps of Spanish moss. Sometimes Orchard Orioles nest near Eastern Kingbirds whose aggressive defense of their nesting territory also benefits neighboring birds.

The male Orchard Oriole sings more to attract a mate than to defend territory. They are only weakly territorial and defend just a very small area around the nest. One song type is short, lasting approximately two seconds, and sounds similar to the song of a Purple Finch or House Finch. A second song type is longer, lasting three to five seconds, and consists of clearer, robin-like whistles, ending in a distinctive down-slurred note.

The young leave the nest 11 to 14 days after hatching. Once fledged, the brood may disperse, the parents caring for groups of fledglings separately. As soon as fledglings are independent enough to care for themselves, Orchard Orioles begin moving south, as early as mid-July. During migration they may be found in a wide variety of open habitats, but avoiding coniferous woodlands and forests with closed canopies. Unlike most songbirds, which undergo a molt before leaving the breeding grounds, molt is suppressed in Orchard Orioles until they arrive at their tropical lowland winter home. Once there, they forage and roost in flocks that can number in the hundreds. While in the North, they feed primarily on insects; in winter nectar, flowers and fruit are important to their diet.

Description: Orchard Orioles are comparatively small orioles, only six to seven inches in length (compared to Baltimore Orioles, which are 8 ¼ inches). Males have a color pattern superficially similar to that of the Baltimore Oriole except that they are deep chestnut (the only icterid that is largely chestnut) rather than orange on the underparts and rump. The head, back, and tail are black. There is a chestnut "epaulet" on the shoulder, and wings are black with a single broad white wingbar and white edges on the flight feathers.

Adult females have olive-green upperparts and yellowish underparts. There are two white wingbars. First summer males are similar to females but have a black bib and face. Some show a variable amount of chestnut feathers on the breast. First summer males sing and may mate successfully.

While adult male Orchard Orioles are distinctive, females may be mistaken for a number of birds, including warblers. They are most similar to female Hooded Orioles, a larger, southwestern species with longer tail; longer, more curved bill; and gray rather than olive tones on the back.

The Fuerte's Oriole is currently considered conspecific with Orchard Oriole. It occurs in coastal and edge habitats along the Mexican Gulf coast in the breeding season and winters on the Pacific coast. It has been reported from south Texas. In male Fuertes Orioles, the chestnut color is replaced by ochre, and females are somewhat paler.

Where common, Orchard Orioles sometimes nest colonially. There are records of as many as 20 nests in a single live oak tree in Arkansas, and as many as 114 nests made up one colony on 7 acres in Louisiana. In the Northeast, however, they are usually solitary and local.



Scott's Oriole
In spring and summer, the arid mountain slopes of the American Southwest ring with the beautiful song of Scott’s Oriole—clear fluted phrases often persistently from before dawn well into the afternoon. Specialties of the region, Scott’s Orioles are as stunning visually as they are aurally—especially adult males, with their lemon-yellow underparts and white wingbars standing out in sharp contrast against jet black heads, chests, and backs.

Scott’s Orioles breed throughout a variety of arid habitats from sea level to about 10,000 feet in elevation; preferred habitats include desert canyons, pinyon-juniper foothills, and semiarid plains between mountain ranges. The breeding range of the species extends from the Sonoran Desert and Mojave Desert of southern California discontinuously to appropriate habitat in southern Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, southwest Texas, Baja California, and the Mexican interior. Throughout most of the breeding range, Scott’s Orioles are migratory, moving south in fall and spending the winter months in Mexico, south to Oaxaca.

Scott's Oriole Range Map The Scott's Oriole breeds from southern California, Nevada, Utah, western Colorado, central New Mexico, and western Texas south into Mexico. Winters from southern California to southern Mexico. The Scott's Oriole prefers pinyon-juniper woodlands of montane semidesert areas, live oak-yucca associations, and sycamores and cottonwoods in canyons. Also uses joshua-tree habitat.

In all seasons, Scott’s Orioles feed mostly on insects and insect larvae, which they pick from the ground or glean from vegetation. Scott’s Orioles may fly long distances between their nests and the places where they forage. On their wintering grounds in central Mexico, they feed on monarch butterflies gathered in dense colonies. Many bird species have difficulty digesting monarchs because of poisonous chemicals accumulated in their bodies from the consumption of milkweed, but orioles can apparently reject poisonous individuals or body parts on the basis of taste. Scott’s Orioles also eat nectar and fruit, including those of cacti.

Scott’s Orioles nest in many species of trees — yucca, palms, piñon pines, junipers, and oaks, among others, depending on what is present in a given habitat. Nests are hanging baskets made of leaf fibers (especially from yucca) or grass, and lined with soft plant material. Scott’s Oriole nests may be round or oval, symmetrical or lopsided; they are not as pendulous as the round bag-like structures of Baltimore and Altamira orioles. For their nests, Scott’s Orioles choose locations that are well concealed and shaded, usually 6-10 feet from the ground.

Clutches usually consist of three or four eggs. On at least one well-studied site, only females incubate eggs and brood young. Both sexes feed young and defend the nest against predators. Many pairs raise two broods in a single summer; in several documented cases, females have laid eggs a third time in a single breeding season after the successful fledging of two earlier broods.

A medium-sized songbird, similar in proportions to other North American orioles. Adult male (after second year) has black head, chest, and mantle, with brilliant yellow belly and vent. Wings are mostly black with a yellow epaulet and two white bars. Adult females show more muted colors—brownish heads, chests, and backs with variable amounts of black, and dull yellow underparts.

First-year Scott’s Orioles are duller still than adult females, with olive-gray plumage overall. Males in their second year resemble adult females, with similar variability.

Both males and females sing a melodious series of whistles, variable among individuals. Call note is a harsh chuck.



Spot-breasted Oriole
The Spot-breasted Oriole, a native of Mexico, was first reported in the Miami area in 1949, where it was probably introduced from escaped captives. It has since been found in Florida from Homestead to Fort Lauderdale.

The Spot-breasted Oriole is bright orange with black throat, wings and tail. It has white patches on wings and black spots on sides of breast. It's voice is similar to other orioles-loud, varied and continuous.

The Spot-breasted Oriole is a year-round resident from southern Mexico to northern Costa Rica. Introduced around Miami, Florida. It prefers open country with scattered trees, orchards, gardens and parks.



Streak-backed Oriole
Of the neotropical orioles that may be seen in the southern U.S., the Streak-backed Oriole is one of the scarcest. It has not established a permanent foothold as have the Hooded, Altamira, Scott's and Audubon's Orioles.

The Streak-backed Oriole is similar to Hooded Oriole, in whose range it may occur. It's upper back is streaked lengthwise in all plumages (not barred side-to-side, as in the winter male Hooded Oriole). The bill is also thicker and straighter. The head of the male Streak-backed Oriole is deeper red-orange than the male Hooded Oriole. The female and immature are duller than male with yellow-orange on head.

The Streak-backed Oriole's song is generally similar to the song of the Northern Oriole. It includes an unmelodious warble and dry chattering. It also makes a series of clear wheet call notes.

The Streak-backed Oriole is a year-round resident from northwestern Mexico to northern Costa Rica and a casual visitor (usually fall or winter) to southeastern Arizona and southern California. It prefers arid and semi-arid scrubby open areas, brushy woodland and plantations.