Baltimore oriole

Baltimore oriole
Adult male
Male Baltimore oriole singing
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Icteridae
Genus: Icterus
Species:
I. galbula
Binomial name
Icterus galbula
Range of I. galbula
  Breeding range
  Wintering range
Note: range in Venezuela, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and the rest of the Caribbean not shown
Synonyms
  • Coracias galbula Linnaeus, 1758
  • Oriolus galbula Linnaeus, 1766
Baltimore orioles

The Baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula) is a small icterid blackbird common in eastern North America as a migratory breeding bird. It received its name from the resemblance of the male's colors to those on the coat-of-arms of 17th-century Lord Baltimore. Observations of interbreeding between the Baltimore oriole and the western Bullock's oriole Icterus bullockii, led to both being classified as a single species, called the northern oriole, from 1973 to 1995. Research by James Rising, a professor of zoology at the University of Toronto, and others showed that the two birds actually did not interbreed significantly.[2]

The Baltimore oriole is the state bird of Maryland, and the namesake and mascot for the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2018). "Icterus galbula". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22724126A132026652. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22724126A132026652.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ Reid, Bruce (March 7, 1995). "Oriole Name Migrates to Baltimore". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015.