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Help develop a Bird ID tool!

Scott's Oriole

Icterus parisorum ORDER: PASSERIFORMES FAMILY: ICTERIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

The brilliant yellow and black Scott's Oriole is a bird of desert hillsides, found in the arid Southwest and into Mexico.

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Appearance

Blackbirdlike
Blackbirdlike
Typical Voice

Adult Description

  • Medium-sized songbird.
  • Long tail.
  • Rather thin, straight, pointed bill.
  • Two wingbars on each dark wing.
  • Yellow to yellow-green.
  • Male lemon yellow with black head and chest.

Male Description

Head, back, throat, and chest black. Rest of body lemon yellow. Wings black with a white wingbar and a yellow upper wingbar or epaulet bordered in white. Tail black with yellow bases to outer tail feathers.

Female Description

Variable amount of black spots or streaks on head, back, and throat. Back olive-gray. Underparts yellow to yellowish olive. Wings brownish black with two whitish wingbars. Tail olive; yellowish at base.

Immature Description

Juvenile dull olive. First year male resembles adult female. First year female similar, but duller and more brownish, and generally without black on throat or back.

Range Map Help

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Field MarksHelp

  • Male
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    Scott's Oriole

    Male
    • © Brian E. Small
  • Female
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    Scott's Oriole

    Female
    • © Brian E. Small
  • First-year male
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    Scott's Oriole

    First-year male
    • © Brain E. Small

Similar Species

  • The Audubon's Oriole is the only other oriole in the United States whose male is black and yellow, but it has a greenish-yellow back and an entirely black tail, and its range does not overlap that of Scott's Oriole.
  • Hooded Oriole resembles female Scott's Oriole, but has a more down-curved bill. Male Hooded Oriole is more orange, has a distinct black bib and face, and has an all-dark tail. Female and immature other orioles generally have solid-colored back, unlike the streaked back of Scott's.