Information about: Oriole

Index | Oriole


Note: Information is dated. Do not rely on it.

Oriole. A family of birds which inhabit southern Asia, the Malay islands, Africa, and Australia, while one species, the golden oriole, is a summer visitant to central Europe, and, during the period of migration, is occasionally observed in England. The male of this species is of great beauty, having a brilliant yellow body and black wings and tail. The female is much plainer, being of a greenish hue, streaked with dusky lines. It is about the size of the common thrush. The name oriole is also applied to several American birds of the genus Icterus, of which the Baltimore oriole, a bird ranging from Canada to Mexico, is a well-known example. It has the head, throat, wings, and upper back black; the lower back and all the under parts are bright orange, deepening into vermilion on the breast.