MD Osprey:

There have been quite a few reports of fall/winter orioles in our 
region. Remember that we have one accepted record of Bullock's Oriole 
for Maryland (none for DC). The MD  record is from 9/25/1994 at 
Blackwater NWR in Dorchester County.

Separation of first-year and female Baltimore and Bullock's plumages 
can be tricky; consult your better field guides for the subtle 
differences. (I tried but was not able to find a single web site that 
focused on these differences.)

For those that want to plow further into this challenge, the excerpt 
below is from the Birds of North American On-line account for Baltimore Oriole:


BALTIMORE ORIOLE - DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:
Adult and Alternate I male distinguished from all other adult male 
North American orioles by orange underparts and completely black 
head. Male Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius) is smaller and has dark 
chestnut underparts; male Bullock's Oriole has largely orange face, 
with white patch on wing-coverts (instead of single wing-bar).

Adult female Baltimore Oriole is generally distinguished from other 
female North American orioles by orange to orange yellow underparts 
and blackish head or crown (head typically does not have black just 
on throat). Paler females and immatures lacking black on crown are 
similar to females and immatures of Bullock's Oriole. Bullock's 
somewhat grayer above and more yellow (less orange) below, usually 
with whitish belly; auricular paler, contrasting with darker crown, 
whereas Baltimore's auricular is olive and shows little contrast with 
crown, resulting in a more uniform head pattern than that of 
Bullock's; pale yellow supercilium and dark eye-line that is 
reminiscent of those of adult male Bullock's are usually distinctive; 
scapulars and back-feathers of Bullock's have small and indistinct or 
no dusky centers, whereas Baltimore (depending on age and sex) 
usually has distinct dusky marks in center of scapular and 
back-feathers, creating spotted pattern; wing pattern differs, with 
tips of median-coverts whiter and pointed toward base (upper margin 
of wing-bar "serrated" versus straight-margined and tinged somewhat 
yellow on Baltimore) and greater-coverts margined with white along 
outer edge, forming lattice of white lines, with less distinct lower 
wing-bar compared to Baltimore (Lee and Birch 1998).

Some Baltimore individuals may not be distinguishable from Bullock's 
Oriole; in addition, identification is complicated by hybrid 
Baltimore x Bullock's orioles, which show intermediate 
characteristics. For information on similar species in Mexico and n. 
Central America, see Howell and Webb 1995.


Literature cited:

Rising, J. D., and N. J. Flood 1998. Baltimore Oriole (Icterus 
galbula). In The Birds of North America, No. 384 (A. Poole and F. 
Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.


Phil


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Phil Davis, Secretary
MD/DC Records Committee
2549 Vale Court
Davidsonville, Maryland  21035     USA
301-261-0184
mailto:[log in to unmask]

MD/DCRC Web site:  http://www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html
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