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Variable Oriole - BirdForum Opus

(Redirected from Icterus pyrrhopterus)
Subspecies I. c. tibialis
Photo © by Arthur Grosset
Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil.
Icterus pyrrhopterus

Identification

Mostly black, the epaulet consisting of the upper wing-coverts. Some subspecies have a yellow epaulet and yellow thighs (e.g., I. c. tibialis) while other sub-species have an ochre-orange epaulet (see second photo).


Distribution

Found in eastern and south-eastern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina.

Most likely subspecies I. c. valenciobuenoi
Photo © by Pantanal1
Cuiaba, Mato Grosso, Brazil.

Taxonomy

Polytypic, consists of four subspecies1:

  • I. c. tibialis
  • I. c. valenciobuenoi
  • I. c. periporphyrus
  • I. c. pyrrhopterus

This species was formerly included in Epaulet Oriole.

Habitat

Woodland, thorny scrub and gardens.

Behaviour

The diet includes insects and nectar.
Variable Oriole will build a nest that is a long hanging basket of grass and other plant fibres, suspended from the end of a branch or more often underside of a palm leaf or banana leaf; however, alternative nest placements include within mistletoes and epiphytes or in abandoned nests of Red-rumped Caciques. 2 dark-spotted pale blue or white eggs are laid.

References

  1. Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
  2. Sibley, CG and BL Monroe. 1996. Birds of the World, on diskette, Windows version 2.0. Charles G. Sibley, Santa Rosa, CA, USA.
  3. Birdforum thread discussing the possibility of splitting Variable Oriole from Epaulet Oriole
  4. Fraga 2011. Variable Oriole breeding in abandoned nests of Red-rumped Caciques in Missiones, Argentina. Ornithologia Neotropical 22: 313-315
  5. Arthur Grosset

External Links

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1

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