NL·0497Herbarium of the Nature Library
- Name
- Icterus galbula
- Family
- Icteridae
- Native to
- Breeds in eastern and central North America; winters from southern Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela, with some in Florida and the Caribbean
- Habitat
- Deciduous forest edge, Riparian woodland, Parks and gardens
On eBird ↗
Baltimore Oriole
Live sightings near you, the range map, bar charts of when it is seen, and Macaulay Library photos and recordings.
Baltimore oriole
Icterus galbula
Also calledBolsero de Baltimore (Spanish) · Turpial de Baltimore (Spanish, South America) · Oriole de Baltimore (French)
A flame-orange and black blackbird relative that weaves a hanging, sock-like nest high in the outer branches of elms and maples. It winters in the tropics, where it sips nectar and eats fruit.
The Baltimore oriole is a small icterid blackbird common in eastern North America as a migratory breeding bird. It received its common name from the resemblance of the male's colors to those on the coat-of-arms of 17th-century Lord Baltimore. Observations of interbreeding between the Baltimore oriole and the western Bullock's oriole Icterus bullockii, led to both being classified as a single species, called the northern oriole, from 1973 to 1995. Research by James Rising, a professor of zoology at the University of Toronto, and others showed that the two birds actually did not interbreed significantly. Wikipedia
What it can do
- iWeaves a pendant pouch nest from plant fibres, hair and string, hung from slender twig tips
- iiUses 'gaping' — stabbing the closed bill into fruit and prying it open — to drink juice
- iiiVisits flowers for nectar on the wintering grounds, carrying pollen between blooms
- ivMigrates by night between the US and northern South America
In the field
Field marks
- aAdult male: fiery orange underparts, rump and tail sides; entirely black head and back
- bBlack wings with a single white wing bar
- cFemale and first-year male: yellow-orange below, olive-brown above, two white wing bars
- dSharply pointed, straight grey bill
- Voice
- Rich, flute-like whistled phrases, varying from bird to bird; call a dry, chattering rattle.
- Not to be confused with
- Bullock's Oriole (west) has an orange face with a black eye-line and a large white wing patch; the two hybridise on the Great Plains. Orchard Oriole males are deep chestnut, not orange. American Redstart is a tiny warbler with orange tail patches.
- Where to see it
- Shade trees along rivers and in older parks across the eastern US and southern Canada; migration hotspots such as Magee Marsh (Ohio) and Point Pelee (Ontario) in May.
- When
- Summer visitor, late Apr–Sep
Listen
Looking for field recordings…
Life & habits
- Diet
- Caterpillars and other insects, ripe fruit, nectar
- Habitat
- Open deciduous woodland, riversides, parks with tall shade trees
- Size
- 17–22 cm; 22–42 g
- Lifespan
- Banding record about 11 years
Readily comes to feeders offering orange halves and grape jelly during spring migration.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Native range
Breeds in eastern and central North America; winters from southern Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela, with some in Florida and the Caribbean
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the old herbals & bestiaries
Woodcuts and engravings matched from the Source Library’s scanned books by name. Plates marked “relative” show a close kin rather than this exact species. Click a plate to read the page it came from, with translation.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Icterus galbula in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
Marginalia
Its orange and black recalled the heraldic colours of the Calverts, the Lords Baltimore who founded colonial Maryland; it is now Maryland's state bird and the namesake of Baltimore's baseball team.
Curiosity
Before Dutch elm disease, the American elm was its classic nesting tree; orioles have since shifted to maples, cottonwoods and sycamores.
Kinship
Photographs: iNaturalist contributors under the licences shown. Records: GBIF.org. Historical plates: Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0; originals public domain). Summary text: Nature Library editors and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Medicinal and edibility notes are historical and educational, not advice. iNaturalist taxon 9346.