The western oriole (''Oriolus brachyrynchus''), or western black-headed oriole, is a species of
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 lightweig ...
in the family
Oriolidae that is native to Africa. The adult
upperparts
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...
are yellow-olive, and the
underparts
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...
are yellow in colour. It is rated as a species of
least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
on the
International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Endangered Species.
Taxonomy and systematics
The western oriole was first described in 1837 by the English
ornithologist William John Swainson.
Alternate names for the western oriole include the black-headed oriole (not to be confused with another species of the same name, ''
Oriolus larvatus'') and greenish-backed oriole. Two
subspecies are recognized:
* West African black-headed oriole (''O. b. brachyrynchus'') –
Swainson, 1837: Found from Guinea-Bissau to Togo and Benin
* Cameroon black-headed oriole (''O. b. laetior'') –
Sharpe, 1897: Found from Nigeria to western Kenya, south-central Democratic Republic of Congo and northern Angola
According to the genetic data, the western oriole and the green-headed oriole (''
Oriolus chlorocephalus'') are
sister species
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree.
Definition
The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram:
Taxon A and ...
.
Description
The western oriole measures in length, and weighs .
The adult
upperparts
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...
are yellow-olive in colour; the head to upper breast is black, and the periphery of the wings has a small white patch. It has a brownish pink
beak
The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for foo ...
. The
underparts
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...
are yellow. The tail feathers are black and have broad yellow tips.
The juvenile has olive
upperparts
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...
. The head is olive, and the throat is streaked with yellow. It has a dusky
beak
The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for foo ...
, and black streaked breast.
It has a variety of fluty vocalizations such as ', ', ', ', ', and ' which normally have detached notes, and are lower pitched than those of the
black-winged oriole (''Oriolus nigripennis''). It also emits a harsh '.
Distribution and habitat
The western oriole is native to the rainforests of Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Benin, and Ghana.
It is found in western and central Africa. It lives either individually or in pairs in canopies of lowland primary forests, secondary forests, forest clearings with
shrubs, and forest edges.
Status and conservation
Since 1988, the western oriole has been rated as a species of
least concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
on the
IUCN Red List of Endangered Species
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolog ...
. This is because it has a very large range and because its population is thought not to have declined by 30% over ten years or three generations. Although the population size has not been measured, it is thought to be more than the threshold required to warrant it a
vulnerable rating. Habitat loss is one reason for its population decline.
References
External links
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1585741
western oriole
Birds of the African tropical rainforest
western oriole
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot