The Story
I photographed this Yellow-backed Oriole (Icterus chrysater) at the Kairi Lodge Natural Reserve, near Manizales, Caldas, Colombia, in February 2020. It is found from Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela. Pairs are monogamous and breed once a year, weaving shallow hanging basket nests of fine grass, often at the tips of palm fronds, and the grass gives the nests a springy texture. Both sexes sing clear whistled songs. It eats mostly caterpillars, wasps, ants and other arthropods, along with bananas and nectar. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/2500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1600. Destino Caldas counts 142 bird species on Kairi’s single hectare, where gardens are planted to draw hummingbirds.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Yellow-backed Oriole (Icterus chrysater) belongs to the family Icteridae (Troupials and Allies) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List
