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Scott's Oriole

ID Info
Silhouette OriolesOrioles
Scott's OrioleIcterus parisorum
  • ORDER: Passeriformes
  • FAMILY: Icteridae

Basic Description

In the arid Southwest, few birds stand out as brightly as the male Scott’s Oriole, which lights up the desert's earth tones with rich lemon-and-black plumage. This gifted and frequent singer inhabits high deserts and the mountain slopes adjacent to them, where it nests and forages in tall yuccas, palms, junipers, and pinyon pines, restlessly moving about in pairs or small groups in search of invertebrates, nectar, and fruit. It’s particularly closely associated with yuccas, where it forages for insects and nectar and gathers fibers for its nests.

More ID Info
image of range map for Scott's Oriole
Year-roundBreedingMigrationNonbreeding
Range map provided by Birds of the World
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Find This Bird

Scott’s Orioles are relatively easy to find. Males begin singing well before sunrise and sing frequently during the day, even when foraging and during the nonbreeding season. When foraging, Scott’s Orioles do spend time “buried” in yucca plants and other desert and mountain vegetation, but their bright plumage tends to make them easy to spot when they come up for air. In mountain woodlands, they may forage with warblers, vireos, woodpeckers, and kinglets.

Other Names

  • Turpial de Scott (Spanish)
  • Oriole jaune-verdâtre (French)
  • Cool Facts