Puerto Rican Oriole
Description
The Puerto Rican oriole (Icterus portoricensis) is a species of bird in the family Icteridae, and genus Icterus or New World blackbirds. This species is a part of a subgroup of orioles (Clade A) that includes the North American orchard oriole, Icterus spurius, and the hooded oriole, Icterus cucullatus.
Males and females are similar in size and color. Males weigh about 41.0 grams and females weigh about 36.6 g. The average wingspan of males and females is 96.9 and 92.1 mm, respectively.
In 2008, Hofmann, Cronin, and Omland, conducted a study that showed there is little color difference in the feathers between the males and females of many tropical orioles, including the Puerto Rican oriole. This means that males and females both have elaborate colors, in contrast many temperate-zoned birds have brightly colored males and dull colored females.
Distribution & Habitat
The Puerto Rican Oriole is a common endemic species in
Puerto Rico (Oberle 2018),
whereas its presence in Vieques
is unconfirmed (Gemmill 2015).
This species occurs in forests,
shade coffee plantations, citrus
orchards, mangroves, palm
groves, and gardens (Oberle
2018), especially where royal
palms occur (J.A. Salguero-Faría,
personal observation 2009). The
atlas fieldwork yielded a total of
431 records within 270 hexagons
or 56 percent of the 479 total
hexagons (see map). Of the 270
hexagons where this species was found, breeding met the
atlas definition of confirmed in
20 percent (53) of the hexagons,
probable in 20 percent (53), and
possible in 60 percent (163),
while the species was observed
in an additional hexagon (<1
percent) but without evidence of
breeding (see map). Puerto Rican Oriole distribution. The map shows the highest breeding code by hexagon and overlaying the ecological life zones in
Puerto Rico. Note: percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
Breeding Habits
Previously published reports indicate that the Puerto Rican
Oriole breeds throughout the
year, but it is most active from
March to June (Raffaele and
others 1998). It builds a fibrous
hanging nest, which is often 263Puerto Rican Oriole/Calandria de Puerto Ricoplaced in a palm tree (Oberle 2018). Atlas results confirm the
breeding information described
in the literature (see chart).
Results show that the Puerto
Rican Oriole breeds mostly
within the subtropical moist
and subtropical wet forest life
zones (65 and 26 percent of the
hexagons, respectively) (see
table and map).
Conservation
The Puerto Rican Oriole population is in decline
owing to ongoing habitat loss
and fragmentation (BirdLife
International 2016), but it is
classified as a species of least
concern by the IUCN (BirdLife
International 2016). Nonetheless,
it is currently threatened by cowbird nest parasitism (Oberle
2018). Locally, this species is
listed as Data Deficient (PRDNER
2015). In Puerto Rico, the Puerto
Rican Oriole has a protected
habitat in land of 12 percent or
794 km2 of the total area covered by the hexagons where evidence
of breeding was found for this
species (6410 km2).
Related Species
Family:
blackbird