Oriole Blackbird
Gymnomystax mexicanus
Beautiful and unmistakable: larger than most orioles, predominantly golden-yellow with black back, wings, and tail. Also note black surrounding eye and black mustache. Stout pointed bill typical of this family. Sexes alike. Found in open habitats including grasslands, marshes, and open woodland, often associated with water. Usually in small flocks. A lowland bird, not usually wandering higher than a couple hundred meters in elevation.
Identification
The oriole blackbird grows to a length of nearly 30 cm (12 in). The sexes are similar in appearance. The head, neck, shoulders and underparts are bright yellow; the back, wings, rump and tail are black, apart from the lower wing-coverts showing a strip of yellow. The eye is brown and is surrounded by a black eye ring, and the large bill and feet are blackish. The voice consists of several loud, scratchy calls, uttered from elevated perches or emitted when on the wing. One is a screech that resembles the sound made by a rusty hinge.
Taxonomy
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the oriole blackbird in his Ornithologie based on a specimen which he mistakenly believed had been collected in New Spain. He used the French name Le troupiale brun de la Nouvelle Espagne and the Latin Icterus Fuscus Novae Hispaniae. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the oriole blackbird. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Oriolus mexicanus, cited Brisson's work and gave the type location as Mexico. The type location was subsequently designated as Cayenne in French Guiana. This species is now the only member of the genus Gymnomystax that was introduced by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1850. The name Gymnomystax combines the Ancient Greek words gumnos "bare" and mustax "moustache". The species is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Gymnomystax mexicanus
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Icteridae
- Genus
- Gymnomystax
Range and habitat
This icterid is found in the northern part of South America. Its range includes French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and northern Brazil. Its typical habitat is grassy areas with isolated trees near rivers, marshes, islands in rivers and gallery forest.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The oriole blackbird is usually seen in pairs or small groups but does not form mixed species flocks. It perches in prominent positions on small trees or on the top of bushes and forages mostly on the ground, especially in muddy areas near water. They feed on invertebrates such as earthworms, caterpillars and winged insects, as well as frogs and fruit, and sometimes tear open ripening maize cobs to feed on the seeds.<p>Breeding takes place in May and June. The nest is a cup-shaped structure about 17 cm (7 in) in diameter, loosely woven out of dry grass and weed stems, and lined with rootlets. The eggs are pale blue with black, brown and lilac blotches and spots. The shiny cowbird, a brood parasite, sometimes lays its egg in an oriole blackbird's nest. The incubation period is about 18 days and the incubation is done solely by the female. Both parents join in feeding the chicks with small invertebrates and frogs which are not regurgitated but brought whole to the nest in the parent's beak.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Boucard's Wren
Campylorhynchus jocosus
Large social wren of arid scrub in interior of southwest Mexico; endemic. Favors thorn forest and cactus scrub, including around towns and villages. Usually in small social groups, which can be conspicuous at times and at other times very skulking and elusive. No similar wrens in its limited range. Note the long bill, boldly spotted underparts, and barred tail. Thrashers (Curve-billed and Ocellated) occur in same range but are appreciably larger, with plain wings and tail.
Lafresnaye's Piculet
Picumnus lafresnayi
Tiny woodpecker of lowland and foothill rainforest east of the Andes. Both sexes have pale yellow underparts with extensive black barring (lacking any speckles or vertical streaks), golden-brown back, and black crown with white spots. Male additionally has red or yellow spots of forehead. Usually found in clearings or at forest edge, tapping incessantly at small branches as it tries to extract small insects.
Giant Conebill
Conirostrum binghami
Scarce to locally fairly common (rare in Chile) nomadic bird of Polylepis woodland in the high Andes. Found as singles or pairs, foraging by creeping on trunks and branches of Polylepis trees, at times in association with mixed-species feeding flocks. Can be confiding, and at other times may fly off long distances in search of other Polylepis patches. No similar species: note pointed bill, white cheeks, and bright rusty underparts, which blend well with Polylepis bark.
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