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Audubon's Oriole (Icterus Grad- Andothers Conclusively Identified the Bird As Species,Age, and Sex, As Well As the Larger Con- Uacauda)By Useof a Fieldgutde

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Audubon's Oriole (Icterus Grad- Andothers Conclusively Identified the Bird As Species,Age, and Sex, As Well As the Larger Con- Uacauda)By Useof a Fieldgutde Audubon'sOriole (Icterus graluacaula) in Indiana:First United States record awayfrom Texas DON GORNEY ß G207 CARRIrJGTDr4 DRIVE ß II•DIArJAPDLIS, IrJDIArJA 4G23G-820g ß (EtvlAIL: [email protected]) JASON LEWIS ß IJ.S. FISH Arid WILDLIFE SERVICE ß 24279 STATE HIGHWAY 51 ß PIJXICD, tvllSSDIJRI G3gGD Abstract black bird at his feederseast of Canaan,Jef- ver Maple (Acer saccharinurn)next to the Thispaper documents the presenceof an af- fersonCoun W, Indiana (38.88 ø N, 85.25ø W, house and obtainedseveral photographs. ter-second-yearfemale Audubon'sOriole elev.257 m). It visitedirregularly, so it was Duringthe next hour, the oriole was observed (Icterus graduacauda)of the subspecies severaldays before his wife, Carol, and a fam- nearthe house as well asin an adjacentsmall auduboniifrom JeffersonCounty, Indiana, ily friend,Dale Sides, were able to observethe apple orchard. Photographsobtained by duringlate January and early February 2007. bird.In earlyFebruary, Bill Smockidentified Lewisand sharedlater that daywith Goruey The criteriaused in identifyingit to sub- thebird as an Audubon's Oriole (Icterus grad- andothers conclusively identified the bird as species,age, and sex, as well as the larger con- uacauda)by useof a fieldgutde. On 6 Febru- an Audubon's Oriole. text for this recordand the issueof prove- ary,Jason Lewis of the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Gorneyvisited the site on 8 Februarywith nance,are alsodiscussed. Service was contacted to confirm the observa- Lewis,obtained additional photographs, and tion,and the nextday, Lewis contacted Got- took detailed field notes. The bird was in view Field Encounter hey, discussedthe report,and visitedthe forapproximately 40 minutesduring this two- On approximately24 January2007, Bill Smockhome. Upon arriving at theSmock res- hourvisit. The bird was seen feeding at twooil Smock noticed an unfamiliar yellow and idence,Lewis spotted the oriole in a bareSil- sunflowerseed feeders, foraging and resting in Audubon'sOriole visiting a feeder near Canaan, Jefferson County, Indiana on 11 February 2007. fielevant field marks include the large blackhood extending onto the breast, olive-yellow backand rump, bright yellow collar, and yellow underparts. Theprominent white edgingtoall remiges and the greater coverts indicate this bird is of the subspecies audubanii. Phot•raph •yl?onAesting. AUDUBON'SORIOLEININDIANA a bareSilver Maple, and foragingin matted grassesand cattailsbordering a smallsnow- covered,frozen pond. While at the feedersit primarilyperched on thewooden platforms to feed,but it wasalso observed feeding on the ground.The oriole and the other species pres- ent were wary. A vehiclepulling into the drivewayor movementoutside of the house wouldcause the oriole to fly away. Duringthe nextweek, the oriolesporadi- cally visitedthe Smocks'feeding area. Bill Smockreported that it was absentfrom the feeders[or one48-hour period and sometimes [or hoursat a timeon dayswhen i! did visit. Thebird was occasionally seen flying towards or at severallocations on the property,thus it appearedto makewide use of the Smocks' 110-acre homestead. Ihere are few other resi- dences besides the Smock home in the vicini- ty,so the bird was likely obtaining food on its ownwhen not presentat the feeders.Several other birders besides those mentioned above wereable to observethe oriole during the re- mainderof itsstay. Wildlife photographer Ron Austingobtained photos on 11February (Fig- ures 1 and 2). The Audubon'sOriole was last seenon 15 February2007 by Bill Smock.No vocalizations were heard from the bird. Physiographically,the local regionis a plateauof up to 330 m abovesea level and dissectedby streamsthat may be 150m below the hilltops. Natural communitiesinclude glades,barrens, and mesophyticforests asso- ciatedwith ravines.The area surrounding the Smockhome is decidedlyrural and undevel- oped,with agricultureand natural vegetation being the primary land cover (Campbell 1997,pers. obs.). Identification Audubon'sOriole is a distinctivelymarked species.The individualobserved in Indiana Audubon'sOriole near Canaan, Jefferson County, Indiana on 11 February 2007. The dean edge to the back of the hood and the wasa largeoriole with a blackhood; yellow neatnessandreduced size of the breast spot strongly suggests afemale. Diagnostic fora female are the extensive undertail spots. underparts;olive-yellow back, scapulars, and Photo9raphbyRon Austing. rump; bright yellow collar separatingthe markingswere most extensive on R6 andap- Crimson-collaredGrosbeak (Rhodothraupis hoodand the back;black wings with white pearedless so on each feather moving towards celaeno)can be eliminatedby differencesin edgingon eachremex and the greater coverts; the centraltail feathers(R1). Comparedto wingand tail color,overall duller coloration, anda long,black, graduated tail with pale edg- otherspecies present at thefeeders, the oriole andbill shapeand size.The long,graduated ingon theunderside of theretrices. The hood was closest in size to Northern Cardinal but tail and the uniqueundertail pattern also extendedpast the crown but did notreach the wasslightly bigger and bulkJer. points to the Indiana bird as being an nape.It extendedonto the chin, throat,and While severalspecies of oriolesin defini- Audubon's Oriole. breast.Eye color was black. Ihe medium- tive plumageshow variations of yellowand Four subspeciesof Audubon'sOriole are length,pointed, and mostlyblack bill was black---e.g.,Scott's (I. parisorum),Black- currently recognized:audubonii, dickeyae, thicker at the base and narrowed to a fine cowled(I. prosthemelas),and Yellow-hackedgraduacauda, and nayaritensis.Audubonii is point.Ihe mandiblewas powder blue from (I. chrysater)-•Audubon'sOriole is uniquein the only subspeciesknown to occurin the thebase to a pointslightly more than halfway havinga blackhood and yellowish back. Im- UnitedStates (Flood et al. 2002;Brush, pers. to thetip. Onlya minimalportion of themax- maturesof severaloriole species are yellow comm.). It alsooccurs in the Mexican statesof ilia was so colored.The tips and the outer andblack but canbe eliminatedby a variety Coahuila, Nuevo LeOn, and Tamaulipas edgesof the undersidesof the outermosttail of [actorssuch as bodyshape and size,bill (Brush2005). The remaining three subspecies feathers(R6) wereextensively marked with a shape,wing markings,lack of hood, and are foundonly in Mexico(Jaramillo 1999). combinationof off-whiteand dull yellow. The overall coloration0aramillo 1999). Female Flood et al. (2002) state that the four sub- VOLUME 61 (2007) - NUMBER 2 353 IAUDUBON'S ORIOLEININDIANA Table1.Reports oforioles fromwinter 2006-2007 inthe greater OhioRiver Valley4 ed to R6 andprobably noticeable only with a bird in the hand. The Indiana bird had an ex- tensivelymarked undertail, including a small BaltimoreOriole McHenryCo., Illinois 8 February2007; P.Zeller, IBET IJstserv paletip to thecentral taft feathers, an indica- Bullock'sOriole ScottCo., Indiana 1January-15 April 2007; pets. obs.; IN-BIRD IJstserv tionthat the bird was a female(Figure 2). Audubon'sOriole JeffersonCo.,Indiana approx.24January-15 February 2007; present paper Another difference between the sexes that BaltimoreOriole FranklinCo., Kentucky approx.14January-mid-February 2007;B. Palmer-Ball is mentioned in most references is that the fe- ScottsOriole FranklinCo.,Kentucky earlyFebruary-23 April2007; B. Palmer-Ball males'upperparts are duller than those of the BaltimoreOriole MonroeCo., Ohio LateDecember 2006-1ate January 2007; V.Fazio, W.Murphy male,with theback and rump appearing olive BaltimoreOriole SummitCo., Ohio 17December 2006; V. Fazio rather than yellow.The authorsfound this markto beinconclusive when they examined BaltimoreOriole FranklinCo.,Ohio December2006-1ate January 2007; B. Whan old, presumablyfaded, specimens, although BaltimoreOrioles Various sites, Pennsylvania 13 birds; December 2006-February 2007;V. Fazio theystill found that males were often brighter ScottsOriole CombedandCo.,Pennsylvania 19 February-April 2007;V. Fazio than females. The Indiana bird had an olive- BaltimoreOriole WilliamsonCo., Tennessee 5-13December 2006;TN-Bird Netlistserv, Jan Shaw yellowback and rump, anotherindication BaltimoreOriole ShelbyCo., Tennessee 17December 2006;TN-Bird Netlistserv, Chris Sloan that it was a female. BaltimoreOriole GreeneCo., Tennessee 18December 2006; TN-Bird Net listserr, Chris Sloan Fieldmarks that appeared useful in sexing BaltimoreOriole MonroeCo.,Tennessee 7January 2007; TN-Bird Net listserr, Chris Sloan specimensbut that arenot well addressedin referencesinclude the raggedness of the mar- speciesare moderately well markedbut they brownish(Flood et al. 2002,Pyle 1997). An gin of thehood at thenape, the shaggy lower intergradewhere ranges meet. The Indiana individualafter Prebasic 1 molt appears simi- hood, and the overallsize of the breastmark- birdwas identified as an auduboniiprimarily lar to onein definitiveplumage except that ing (Gorney2007). Male specimens tended to becausethe remigesand greater coverts were the brownishprimaries and secondaries con- havea poorlydemarcated edge to the hood boldlyedged with white (Figure1), which trast with the black covertsand tertials,most alongthe napeor the backof the head.The eliminatesall subspeciesbut audubonii.The of the retrices remain olive-colored, and the edgewas usuallyragged, with strayblack nominatesubspecies graduacauda resembles upperpartsare extensivelyolive-colored feathersradiating out onto the back. Females, auduboniibut is smallerand lacks white edges (Jaramillo1999;
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