The Venezuelan troupial (''Icterus icterus'') is the national bird of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. It is found in Colombia, Venezuela, and the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire,

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. Together with the orange-backed troupial and Campo troupial, it was previously part of a superspecies simply named the troupial that was

split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

Name

The term ''troupial'' is from French ''troupiale'', from ''troupe'' (“troop”), so named because they live in flocks. The Latin name ''icterus'' is from Greek ἴκτερος (''íkteros'', “jaundice”); the ''icterus'' was a bird the sight of which was believed to cure jaundice, perhaps the

Eurasian golden oriole The Eurasian golden oriole (''Oriolus oriolus'') also called the common golden oriole, is the only member of the Old World oriole family of passerine birds breeding in Northern Hemisphere temperate regions. It is a summer migrant in Europe and ...

. It also had the more general meaning "yellow bird", which is why the name was later given to this South American bird.

Description

Venezuelan troupials are fairly large in size, with a long tail and a bulky bill. It has a black head and upper breast. The feathers on the front of the neck and upper breast stick outward, making an uneven boundary between the black and the orange of the bird's lower breast and underside. The rest of the orange color is found on the upper and lower back, separated by the black shoulders. The wings are mostly black except for a white streak that runs the length of the wing when in a closed position. The eyes are yellow, and surrounding each one, there is a patch of bright, blue, naked skin.

Subspecies

There are three subspecies: ''I. i. icterus'', ''I. i. ridgwayi'', and ''I. i. metai''. Individuals of ''I. i. metae'' have more orange on the back and a black line that divides the lengthwise white wing-stripe in half. Individuals of ''I. i. ridgwayi'' are generally stronger and larger in proportion to the other subspecies.

Habitat

Venezuelan troupial inhabit dry areas like

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (se ...

s, gallery forest, dry scrub,

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...

s, and open savanna, where they forage for

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s, a wide variety of fruit, small birds and eggs.

Breeding

Venezuelan troupials breed from March to September. They do not construct their own nests, but are instead obligate nest pirates. They make no nest of their own, but must instead either find a vacant nest or drive the adults away from an active nest. Venezuelan troupials are capable of violent attacks against established nesters. Upon taking over a nest, they may eat any eggs or young nestlings remaining in the newly acquired nest, and will fiercely defend the area against would-be intruders. Eventually the adult troupials go on to produce their own clutch of three to four eggs that hatch after about two weeks of incubation.

In culture

The Venezuelan troupial, as the national bird of Venezuela, appears on the reverse side of the Venezuelan Bs.S 500 banknote. Former

Miss International Miss International (''Miss International Beauty'' or ''The International Beauty Pageant'') is a Japan-based international beauty pageant organized by the International Culture Association. First held in 1960, it is the fourth largest pageant i ...

Edymar Martínez Edymar Martínez Blanco (born July 10, 1995, in Puerto La Cruz, Anzoátegui, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan model and beauty queen. She represented Anzoátegui state at Miss Venezuela 2014 and was crowned Miss Venezuela International by the outgo ...

wore the image as a national costume in 2015 in Tokyo, Japan.

References

* Jaramillo, Alvaro and Burke, Peter, ''New World Blackbirds'': The Icterids (1999), . * Ridgely, Robert S., and Tudor, Guy, ''The Birds of South America'': Volume 1- The Oscine Passerines (1989), .

External links

Troupial
- Animal Diversity Web {{Taxonbar, from=Q997708 Venezuelan troupial National symbols of Venezuela Birds of Venezuela Birds of the Caribbean Birds of the Netherlands Antilles Birds of Trinidad and Tobago Venezuelan troupial Venezuelan troupial