Maroon Oriole
Oriolus traillii
Large, pale-eyed songbird of lower and middle elevations of montane forests. Male blood red with inky black head and wings and dark bill; female similar but less richly colored. Juvenile brown above, pale with dark stippling below, paler bill, and tawny undertail coverts. Birds in Taiwan and central Vietnam are much brighter red overall. Usually seen in pairs or small flocks, sometimes with mixed-species flocks. Pairs often engage in an ethereal duet: male gives a series of melodic notes, to which the female responds with a long, airy whistle. Also gives harsh, rasping calls.
Identification
The maroon oriole has maroon and black plumage with a black head, neck and wings with a blueish beak. The females have slightly darker bodies and the juveniles have lighter bodies. The adult male is glossy crimson-maroon in color, with black head, neck and wings and a chestnut-maroon tail. The females and immature males have a greyish-white underpart with black streaks. Colouration varies somewhat across the range, with those in the Indian Subcontinent having duller colours and those in Southeast Asia having brighter colours, also tending to somewhat reddish tones.
Taxonomy
The maroon oriole was originally described in the genus Pastor. Along with the black, black-and-crimson and silver orioles, it belongs to a clade of red and black orioles.<p>Four subspecies are recognized:
- Scientific name
- Oriolus traillii
- Authority
- (Vigors, 1832)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Oriolidae
- Genus
- Oriolus
Range and habitat
The maroon oriole is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, and Vietnam. In India, it is found from Himachal Pradesh east to Arunachal Pradesh and the hills of Manipur.<p>Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The maroon oriole lives alone or in pairs. The nesting season is from April to May. The nest is a deep massive cup of bast fibre that is bound with cobwebs. Both male and female birds share the parental duties.<p>The maroon oriole eats wild figs, berries, insects and nectar.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Maroon-faced Parakeet
Pyrrhura leucotis
Handsome and gregarious parakeet with a long, pointed tail. A colorful parakeet with a brown crown, a blue nape, blue flight feathers, a maroon face with whitish ears, and a maroon belly, shoulders and undertail. Inhabits the canopy and edges of humid forests and woodlands.
Buff-browed Chachalaca
Ortalis superciliaris
Small chachalaca, brown overall with a pale buff eyebrow. Found in edge habitats, thickets, and young second-growth forests, even at the edge of urban areas. Song is typical of a chachalaca: a noisy, high-pitched, raucous “TJURRE-wruh,” repeated continually.
European Storm-Petrel
Hydrobates pelagicus
Tiny black seabird with rounded tail tip, white rump, and white stripe on underside of wing. Like many other storm-petrels, can be fairly common but mainly offshore and rarely seen; breeds on rocky islands where it visits colonies at night. Feeds out at sea, sometimes following ships and fluttering fast and low in the wake (like a bumblebee). In direct comparison, appears about half the size of Leach’s Storm-Petrel, which has much stronger, bounding flight. Winters at sea in South Atlantic.
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