Audubon’s Oriole

Icterus graduacauda

Once called the Black-Headed Oriole, aside from south Texas, this bird makes its home in Mexico. Science recognises four subspecies of the Audubon’s Oriole. We find I. g. dickeyae and I. g. nayaritensis in southwestern Mexico in the states of Nayarit and southern Oaxaca, I. g. graduacauda and I. g. audubonii live in northeastern Mexico. They are non migratory in their range, and so we find them year round wherever they live.

Brown-Headed and Bronzed Cowbirds regularly lay their eggs in these bird’s nests.

My meetings with this species came on several visits to the National Butterfly Center in Mission Texas.