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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