The Isabela oriole (''Oriolus isabellae'') is a species of the

oriole Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and earl ...

family

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

in the Philippines. The

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

was presumed to be

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

for many years until its rediscovery in December 1993 near Diffun, Quirino, and in Mansarong in September 1994. Additional sightings were made in San Mariano, Isabela. and

Baggao Baggao, officially the Municipality of Baggao ( ibg, Ili nat Baggao; ilo, Ili ti Baggao; tl, Bayan ng Baggao), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Cagayan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 87,753 peopl ...

Cagayan Valley Cagayan Valley ( ilo, Tanap ti Cagayan; fil, Lambak ng Cagayan), is an administrative region in the Philippines, located in the northeastern section of Luzon Island. It is composed of five Philippine provinces: Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nue ...

It It is found in moist lowland forest up to 440 masl. It is threatened by habitat loss and hunting.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Isabela oriole is commonly confused with the much more common white-lored orioles and

black-naped oriole The black-naped oriole (''Oriolus chinensis'') is a passerine bird in the oriole family that is found in many parts of Asia. There are several distinctive populations within the wide distribution range of this species and in the past the slende ...

s. It is differentiated by its extremely large bill grey bill, uniform olive-yellow plumage and lack of white on its lores. The Isabela oriole is most closely related to the white-lored oriole. Both species are closely related to the

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

Philippine oriole. The Isabela oriole is sometimes considered to form a superspecies with the dark-throated oriole and the Philippine oriole. Alternate names for the Isabela oriole include the green-lored oriole and olive-lored oriole.

Distribution and habitat

The Isabela oriole is now confined to the lowland forests in the

Northern Sierra Madre Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

mountain range in Luzon. It is frequently seen in the canopy and middle storeys of forests and also forest edge or patches up to 440 masl. It is seen in mixed flocks with other birds such as

bar-bellied cuckooshrike The bar-bellied cuckooshrike (''Coracina striata'') is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and its natural habitats include mangrove forest, dry forest, swamp forest, ...

black-and-white triller The black-and-white triller (''Lalage melanoleuca'') is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest A forest is an area of land dom ...

blackish cuckooshrike The blackish cuckooshrike (''Edolisoma coerulescens'') or the blackish cicadabird or Luzon graybird, is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. Some taxonomists place this species in the genus Analisoma ...

s and other forest birds. It has not been recorded in

Bataan Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entir ...

province since 1947 despite an intensive search done in 2014.

Conservation Status

The Isabela oriole has a known population of about 50-250 mature individuals and is assessed as Critically Endangered based on its extremely small and fragmented population. Organisations such as Buhay-Ilang and the Mabuwaya Foundation are working to conserve them with educational programs and festivals celebrating this bird. The oriole is now a Flagship species for the North Sierra Madre National Park. Since 2015, a research and conservation project for the Isabela Oriole has been implemented in Baggao by the Mabuwaya Foundation. Information, education and communication, community consultations are held in Baggao with the local government, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and local residents. Plans are underway to declare the oriole site in Baggao a Critical Habitat and to encourage ecotourism.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1585174 Isabela oriole Birds of Luzon Endemic fauna of the Philippines Critically endangered fauna of Asia Isabela oriole Isabela oriole