Mystery Bird: Baltimore Oriole, Icterus galbula

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[Mystery bird] Baltimore Oriole, Icterus galbula, photographed at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, Brazoria County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 27 April 2010 [larger view].

Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.

Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

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WOW, what a stunning picture!

I think I've had one of these, except the opposite sex, at both my orange and suet feeders for the past two week.

I am guessing it is a first year female due to the scaly, mottled pattern on the back and the hint of yellow coming in above the prominent white wing bar?

By Ken Trease (not verified) on 13 May 2010 #permalink

This appears to be a bit easier than I thought -- I had thought that the locale was down in the Rio Grande Valley, turns out it's up near Galveston. That narrows the expected choices from 6 to 2, with at least 2 (probably 4) vagrants to keep in mind. Looks like the one I remember watching at Memorial Stadium, based on the mottled dark crown, and the yellow coming in on the lesser wing coverts. And Ken, I think this is an older female -- a male should show more solid black by now, and a young female should show little if any black on the crown or yellow on the coverts.

Sibley shows a 1st-year female Scott's Oriole with a dark greyish head and a long, sharp bill, and Kaufman comments that "older females .. . may have much black on head." Both authors show strong wingbars. Don't know about location.

Murray, interesting thought -- when I was thinking this site was in the Valley, that was one of my possibilities as well. But, it would be out of range (all right, that happens), and from what I can get out of the books, Scott's probably wouldn't show the bright orangey-yellow edges on the back feathers, especially the brand new ones we can see on the middle back. Also, I would expect a female Scott's to be more greenish -- this bird's color is closer to the orange it's eating from.