Scott's Oriole

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Scott's Oriole
In spring and summer, the arid mountain slopes of the American Southwest ring with the beautiful song of Scott’s Oriole—clear fluted phrases often persistently from before dawn well into the afternoon. Specialties of the region, Scott’s Orioles are as stunning visually as they are aurally—especially adult males, with their lemon-yellow underparts and white wingbars standing out in sharp contrast against jet black heads, chests, and backs.

Scott’s Orioles breed throughout a variety of arid habitats from sea level to about 10,000 feet in elevation; preferred habitats include desert canyons, pinyon-juniper foothills, and semiarid plains between mountain ranges. The breeding range of the species extends from the Sonoran and Mojave deserts of southern California discontinuously to appropriate habitat in southern Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, southwest Texas, Baja California, and the Mexican interior. Throughout most of the breeding range, Scott’s Orioles are migratory, moving south in fall and spending the winter months in Mexico, south to Oaxaca.
Scott's Oriole Range Map

In all seasons, Scott’s Orioles feed mostly on insects and insect larvae, which they pick from the ground or glean from vegetation. Scott’s Orioles may fly long distances between their nests and the places where they forage. On their wintering grounds in central Mexico, they feed on monarch butterflies gathered in dense colonies. Many bird species have difficulty digesting monarchs because of poisonous chemicals accumulated in their bodies from the consumption of milkweed, but orioles can apparently reject poisonous individuals or body parts on the basis of taste. Scott’s Orioles also eat nectar and fruit, including those of cacti.

Scott’s Orioles nest in many species of trees — yucca, palms, piñon pines, junipers, and oaks, among others, depending on what is present in a given habitat. Nests are hanging baskets made of leaf fibers (especially from yucca) or grass, and lined with soft plant material. Scott’s Oriole nests may be round or oval, symmetrical or lopsided; they are not as pendulous as the round bag-like structures of Baltimore and Altamira orioles. For their nests, Scott’s Orioles choose locations that are well concealed and shaded, usually 6-10 feet from the ground.

Clutches usually consist of three or four eggs. On at least one well-studied site, only females incubate eggs and brood young. Both sexes feed young and defend the nest against predators. Many pairs raise two broods in a single summer; in several documented cases, females have laid eggs a third time in a single breeding season after the successful fledging of two earlier broods.

A medium-sized songbird, similar in proportions to other North American orioles. Adult male (after second year) has black head, chest, and mantle, with brilliant yellow belly and vent. Wings are mostly black with a yellow epaulet and two white bars. Adult females show more muted colors—brownish heads, chests, and backs with variable amounts of black, and dull yellow underparts.

First-year Scott’s Orioles are duller still than adult females, with olive-gray plumage overall. Males in their second year resemble adult females, with similar variability.

Both males and females sing a melodious series of whistles, variable among individuals. Call note is a harsh chuck.

Attracting Orioles

Visit Shaw Creek Bird Supply to see our Oriole Feeder.