Bird Guide

Black-vented Oriole vs Spot-breasted Oriole

Black-vented Oriole (Icterus wagleri)

Black-vented Oriole

Icterus wagleri

Small42 gForest

The black-vented oriole is 20.5 to 23 cm (8.1 to 9.1 in) long. Males weigh an average of about 41 g (1.4 oz) and females an average of 39 g (1.4 oz). Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a black head, throat, upper breast, mantle, back, rump, uppertail coverts, and tail. Their lowermost belly and undertail coverts are also black. Their wing is mostly black with orange-yellow lesser and median coverts that show as an epaulet on the closed wing. Their underparts have a tinge of chestnut just below the black breast and are otherwise orange-yellow. Voice: The black-vented oriole has a rather unmusical song that is "a mix of fast warbles with twittering and nasal or rasping notes". Its call is "a distinctive nasal eeeaahnk!".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Laura Gaudette · CC BY 4.0
Spot-breasted Oriole (Icterus pectoralis)

Spot-breasted Oriole

Icterus pectoralis

Small47 gWoodland

The spot-breasted oriole is about 21 cm (8.3 in) long. Its wing chord is 8.8 to 11.4 cm (3.5 to 4.5 in), its tail 8.5 to 11.2 cm (3.3 to 4.4 in), its culmen 1.9 to 2.4 cm (0.75 to 0.94 in), and its tarsus 2.6–3 cm (1.0–1.2 in). Males weigh an average of about 53 g (1.9 oz) and females about 45 g (1.6 oz). The sexes have the essentially same plumage though females are duller than males. Adults of the nominate subspecies I. p. pectoralis have a mostly deep orange head and nape. They have a black "mask", throat, "bib" on the upper breast, mantle, and back. Their rump is orange. Voice: The spot-breasted oriole's song is "a sweet, melodic rising and falling series of repeated clear whistles: eeeep!-weu'peeer-eeeep!-weu'peeer-eeeep!-weu'peeer..." and its calls include "a harsh, scratchy, nasal raannk...and a hoarse chatter".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Reanne ("Bean") Dunn · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Black-vented Oriole and Spot-breasted Oriole.