Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 8.3–9.4 in
21–24 cm - Weight
- 1.8 oz
50 g
Other Names
- Oriole maculé (French)
- Bolsero pechimanchando (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- The female Spot-breasted Oriole often sings. Her song is usually simpler and has a thinner tone than the male's song.
- Unlike most North American orioles where the males are bright and the females are dull, both sexes of the Spot-breasted Oriole are bright and look alike. This pattern of sexes looking alike and colorful is common in tropical orioles.
Habitat
Open Woodland
Suburban neighborhoods. In native range found in open woodlands, dry scrub, forest edges, and around ranches and villages.
Food
Fruit
Insects, berries, and nectar.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Egg Description
- White with black and purple scrawling.
- Condition at Hatching
- Helpless.
Nest Description
A long, hanging pouch woven of fibers and thin roots of epiphytes, suspended in the fork of a tree branch.
Nest Placement
Tree
Behavior
Foliage Gleaner
Gleans insects from foliage, opens rolled leaves, visits flowers.
Conservation
Least Concern
Probably escaped from a Miami tourist facility or from the pet trade in 1948, Spot-breasted Oriole became numerous across seven counties in southeastern Florida by the 1970s. Cold winters reduced populations in the early 1980s, but they appear to be recovering in some areas.
Credits
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. 2003, January 6. Florida's breeding bird atlas: A collaborative study of Florida's birdlife. http://www.wildflorida.org/bba/.
- Robertson, W. B., Jr., and G. E. Woolfenden. 1992. Florida bird species: an annotated list. Florida Ornithological Society Special Publication No. 6.
- Stiles, F. G., and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.