THE ORCHARD ORIOLE 

 American Blackbird Family — Icteridoe 



Length: About 7 inches. 



Adult Male: Head, throat, neck, and upper half of back black; 

 breast, belly, shoulders, lower half of back a bright 



Breeding chestnut brown; wings and tail dark brown; wing- 



Plumage: feathers tipped or edged with white, forming a bar 

 across wing. The winter plumage is different from 

 the breeding plumage; the male passes through sev- 

 eral changes as he matures. 



Female: Olive-green above, darkest on head and back, dull 

 yellow below; wing-feathers tipped with white, form- 

 ing two bars across wing; tail olive-green. 



Immature Male: Like female, the first autumn; the next 

 spring, he has a black throat; the chestnut plumage 

 develops later. 



Notes and Song: Similar to those of the Baltimore oriole. 

 Song clear and melodious; tones possibly not quite 

 so mellow as those of its relatives, but sweeter. 



Habitat: Orchards and shade trees. 



Nest: A pensile nest, but shorter and more firmly attached 

 than that of the Baltimore oriole. 



Bange : Eastern North America. Breeds from northern United 

 States, southern Canada, and central New York, 

 south to northern Florida and the Gulf Coast, west 

 to Texas, central Nebraska, and western Kansas; 

 winters from southern Mexico to northern Colombia. 

 Not common in Massachusetts. 



THE markings of the Orchard Oriole are similar to 

 those of the more brilliant and striking Baltimore 

 Oriole, but its coloring more nearly resembles that of the 



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