Yellow Oriole

The Story

I photographed this Yellow Oriole (Icterus nigrogularis) at Ambalema, Tolima, Colombia. Its tail is black with small white tips on the outer feathers. Its nest is a long pouch woven from plant fibers and hung from a branch or palm frond. The female incubates alone for about 15 days while the male defends the nest. It eats fruit and also takes nectar from flowers and hummingbird feeders. Its habitats include arid scrub, dry forest, gallery forest, parks, gardens and fruit plantations. Cortolima lists the Magdalena River at Ambalema and Venadillo among Tolima’s birding routes.

I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800, +0.7 EV. IUCN lists the Yellow Oriole as Least Concern, with a stable population.

The bird

The Yellow Oriole (Icterus nigrogularis) 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 2018), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List