Icterus Portoricensis
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The Puerto Rican oriole (''Icterus portoricensis'') is a species of bird in the family Icteridae, and genus ''Icterus'' or New World blackbirds. This species is a part of a subgroup of orioles (Clade A) that includes the North American orchard oriole, ''Icterus spurius'', and the
hooded oriole The hooded oriole (''Icterus cucullatus'') is a medium-sized New World oriole. The male of this species ranges in color from a bright orange to a paler yellow, with a black back, face, tail and bib, with the wing containing two white bars. The fe ...
, ''Icterus cucullatus''. The Puerto Rican oriole was previously grouped with
Cuban oriole The Cuban oriole (''Icterus melanopsis'') is a species of songbird in the family Icteridae. It is endemic to Cuba. Adults measure long with a 10 cm (3.9 in) wing length. They are black with yellow patches on the shoulders, underwings ...
(''Icterus melanopsis''),
Hispaniolan oriole The Hispaniolan oriole (''Icterus dominicensis'') is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti). Taxonomy In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin ...
(''Icterus dominicensis''), and
Bahama oriole The Bahama oriole (''Icterus northropi'') is a species of songbird in the New World blackbird family Icteridae (the orioles). It is endemic to the Bahamas, and listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List. Taxonomy The species was originally classif ...
(''Icterus northropi'') as a single species, (''Icterus dominicensis''). In 2010, all four species became recognized as full species by the
American Ornithologists' Union The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...
.


Habitat

The oriole is endemic to Puerto Rico. Its natural habitats are the tropical forests, mangrove forests, and plantations. The bird also shows a natural preference for nesting in palm trees.Jaramillo, A., P. Burke. 1999. New World Blackbirds. Princeton: Princeton University Press.


Behavior

After breeding, adult Puerto Rican orioles and their young will remain together in a family group. It primarily forages in dense vegetation looking for a wide range of foods that includes fruits, insects, lizards, and nuts and grains.


Description

Males and females are similar in size and color. Males weigh about 41.0 grams and females weigh about 36.6 g. The average wingspan of males and females is 96.9 and 92.1 mm, respectively.Garrido, O., J. Wiley, A. Kirkconnell. 2005. Genus Icterus in the West Indies. Ornitologia Neotropical, 16: 449-470. In 2008, Hofmann, Cronin, and Omland, conducted a study that showed there is little color difference in the feathers between the males and females of many tropical orioles, including the Puerto Rican oriole. This means that males and females both have elaborate colors, in contrast many temperate-zoned birds have brightly colored males and dull colored females. Adults are black with yellow on their lower belly and shoulder. The closely related
Hispaniolan oriole The Hispaniolan oriole (''Icterus dominicensis'') is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (split between the Dominican Republic and Haiti). Taxonomy In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin ...
(''Icterus dominicensis'') and
Bahama oriole The Bahama oriole (''Icterus northropi'') is a species of songbird in the New World blackbird family Icteridae (the orioles). It is endemic to the Bahamas, and listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List. Taxonomy The species was originally classif ...
(''Icterus northropi'') have more yellow on their bodies, but, the
Cuban oriole The Cuban oriole (''Icterus melanopsis'') is a species of songbird in the family Icteridae. It is endemic to Cuba. Adults measure long with a 10 cm (3.9 in) wing length. They are black with yellow patches on the shoulders, underwings ...
(''Icterus melanopsis'') has more black. Juveniles are
tawny Tawny may refer to: * Tawny (given name), a feminine given name * Tawny (color) * Tawny port, a fortified wine * ''Tawny'', a 1954 record album by Jackie Gleason * Tawny, a townland in Kilcar, County Donegal, Ireland See also * Tenné, a "sta ...
colored with an olive tint to their rump. Puerto Rican orioles develop their bright colors as they age. The tawny color offers a selective advantage to the adolescents since by helping with camouflage in the dense forest. This is likely the ancestral state for the genus ''Icterus''.


Communication

Both males and females of the Puerto Rican oriole sing with no obvious difference in song structure. The song of the Puerto Rican oriole is composed of clicks or “high pitched whistles” and has a frequency range between 3.6 and 5.3
kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...
. The bird combines between 15 and 27 different notes to make up their song. Due to gender and geographic bias in studying predominantly male samples of temperate-zone birds, which do not exhibit female song, it has historically been assumed that only males of the Puerto Rican orioles sing. However, in 2009, Price, Lanyon, and Omland conducted a study that shows that both males and females of many tropical orioles sing. This has been substantiated by 2016 documentation of female song in Puerto Rican orioles by Campbell et al., proving that song is not a method of communication solely possessed by males.Campbell, S.K., A.L. Morales-Perez, J.F. Malloy, O.C. Muellerklein, J.A. Kim, K.J. Odom, and K.E. Omland. 2016. Documentation of female song in a newly recognized species, the Puerto Rican Oriole (Icterus portoricensis). Journal of Caribbean Ornithology 29:28–36 The research theorizes that the prevalence of female song correlates to a tropical lifestyle wherein there is increased female-female competition and territory defense that necessitates such communication. Additionally, ancestral state reconstruction of the Caribbean oriole clade shows that female song is an ancestral trait.


Reproduction

Most members of this genus are thought to be
monogamous Monogamy ( ) is a form of Dyad (sociology), dyadic Intimate relationship, relationship in which an individual has only one Significant other, partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (Monogamy#Serial monogamy, ...
, establishing lifelong bonds between males and females. The Puerto Rican oriole breeds primarily from February through July. It lays about three eggs per clutch. The eggs are white with a bluish hue with light lavender-gray-brown speckles and spots. The nests are structured as a basket made from woven fibers of palm material, and are usually suspended from the underside of a palm leaf by two points. One threat to oriole nesting is parasitism by the shiny cowbird, especially in coastal habitats.


See also

* Fauna of Puerto Rico * List of birds of Puerto Rico * List of endemic fauna of Puerto Rico * List of Puerto Rican birds * List of Vieques birds * El Toro Wilderness


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3726814 Puerto Rican oriole Endemic birds of Puerto Rico Puerto Rican oriole Puerto Rican oriole]