Indian golden oriole

Appearance

Very similar to the Eurasian golden oriole but has more yellow in the tail and has a paler shade of red in the iris and bill. The male has the black eye stripe extending behind the eye, a large carpal patch on the wing and wide yellow tips to the secondaries and tertiaries.

The streaks on the underside of females is more sharp than in the females of the Eurasian golden oriole. The European species is larger with a wing length of 149-162 in adult males compared to 136-144 in ''O. kundoo''. The wing formula is also different with primary 2 longer than 5 in ''O. oriolus'' while primary 5 is longer than 2 in ''O. kundoo''. A population named ''baltistanicus'' was considered by Charles Vaurie to be indistinguishable from ''kundoo'' while ''turkestanica'' appeared to be based on a specimen of a typical ''Oriolus oriolus''.

Distribution

This oriole breeds from Baluchistan and Afghanistan along the Himalayas to Nepal. Some populations breed in the peninsular region but are very local. The northern populations winter in southern India, with some birds wintering in Sri Lanka. Records from the Maldives and the Andaman Islands have not been carefully identified.

Behavior

Their flight is dipping but strong and has been recorded to reach about 40 km/h. They sometimes bathe by repeatedly flying into a small pool of water. An individual ringed in Gujarat was recovered in Tajikistan more than nine years later.

Habitat

The Indian golden oriole inhabits a range of habitats including open deciduous forests, semi-evergreen forests, woodland, forest edge, mangroves, open country with scattered trees, parks, gardens orchards and plantations.

Reproduction

The breeding season is April to August, the nest being a small cup placed in a fork near the end of a branch. Nests are often built in the vicinity of the nest of a black drongo. Two or three white eggs with reddish, brown and black speckling form the typical clutch. Both parents take part in nest and brood care, defending the nest against intruding birds such as shikras and crows.

Food

Orioles feed on fruits, nectar and insects. They are capable of dispersing the seeds of many berry-bearing plants including the invasive ''Lantana camara''. An oriole has been recorded preying on ''Draco dussumieri''.