oriole

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oriole
Golden oriole (Oriolus oriolus), male

Golden oriole ( Oriolus oriolus ), male

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Superfamily : Corvoidea
Family : Orioles (Oriolidae)
Genre : Oriolus
Type : oriole
Scientific name
Oriolus oriolus
( Linnaeus , 1758)

The Golden Oriole ( Oriolus oriolus ) is a bird art from the family of orioles (Oriolidae). There are two distinctly differentiated subspecies in the plumage. Oriolus oriolus oriolus is the nominate form widespread in the north and west of Eurasia . In Central Europe this subspecies is nowhere very common breeding and summer bird. The subspecies Oriolus oriolus kundoo is native to southern central Asia and northern India.

Appearance

Golden Oriole, male in foreground, female behind, young bird flown out in the back (illustration from 1901)
Male of the subspecies Oriolus oriolus kundoo
Female oriole

The oriole is a slender bird that can reach a body length of up to 24 centimeters. Males weigh an average of 41 grams, while the females weigh 71.8 grams. Both sexes show a pink to rust-colored bill . A black strap extends from the base of the beak to the eye in the male (and in the female in progressive dress), in young females this is gray and less clearly recognizable. Legs and claws are colored gray. The eyes have a brownish, even reddish hue.

Orioles show a striking sexual dimorphism in their plumage . The male has a bright yellow rump and black wing-covers with a yellow spot on the wing, the tail feathers, the thrust, are black with two yellow stripes. Young females are dull green in color with a slightly lighter, speckled breast and belly and a yellowish lower abdomen. This coloring improves the camouflage when breeding on the nest . Older females sometimes have significantly more yellow in their plumage. Their yellow content is sometimes greater than that of three-year-old males, so that sex determination based on the plumage is only possible to a limited extent.

voice

The male has a quieter chirping song. The sonorous flute chant is reproduced with the description "dü-delüü-lio" or "büloo-büloo" and its variability can be used as a distinguishing feature between individual males. The adult birds of both sexes dominate the song, although the females are not as perfect as their male partners.

The call can be specified as “rääij-rääij” or as “wiäächt-wiäächt”. The birds croak when excited, which is paraphrased with a "chrrrääh". The aggressive warning call sounds like a woodpecker like "djick-jick".

Distribution area

Breeding area

The oriole is a breeding bird of the western and central Palearctic . The distribution area extends from northwest Africa as well as Spain and Portugal to about 100 degrees east longitude in southern Siberia and also includes the Indian suburbs and Bangladesh. The southern border of the distribution area runs in Europe from the Balearic Islands via Corsica, Sicily, the middle of Greece and Cyprus and continues to the east via the northwest of Iran and the Elburs Mountains . The northern limit of distribution runs over the north of France, the south of Great Britain, Denmark and the south of Sweden. The northernmost occurrence in Finland is around 62 to 63 ° N, in Russia around 60 ° N. The area boundary is often given as the 17 ° C July isotherm. Its breeding area extends from the south of the boreal zone to the Mediterranean and steppe zone. In the west of the Orientalis the breeding area extends into the savannah zone and winter-dry tropical zone as well as the always humid tropics.

In Central Europe the oriole is a breeding bird of the lowlands. It is usually absent in the low mountain ranges and largely in the Alps. It typically rarely occurs at altitudes above 600 meters. The highest evidence of breeding in Switzerland is 1,160 meters above sea level and nests have been found in Baden-Württemberg at an altitude of 730 meters.

hikes

Distribution area of ​​the oriole (dark red: breeding area, light red: wintering area)

The golden oriole is an obligatory migratory bird in its entire range, with wintering areas mainly in the highlands and forest areas of eastern Africa, southwards to the Cape provinces. Also Madagascar is achieved. In addition, Iberian and Maghrebian birds in particular prefer to overwinter in the West African tree savannas and river basins of the Niger , Senegal and Gambia . In the wintering areas, the species occurs up to heights of 3000 meters and more.

Orioles are broad-fronted pullers , they cross the Alps and the Sahara without bypasses. The migration from the breeding areas begins at the end of July and reaches its peak at the end of August; Latecomers can be observed in Central Europe until October. The African winter quarters will be cleared from the end of January; usually the migration back to the breeding areas is somewhat more westerly ( loop migration ) than the migration . The first orioles reach their central European breeding grounds at the end of March, most of them appear only at the beginning of May.

habitat

The oriole is a character bird of light floodplain forests, swamp forests and woody trees close to the water. Deciduous, mixed and coniferous forests as well as parks, large gardens, cemeteries, orchards, tall fruit trees, windbreaks and avenues are also among its breeding areas, where it is mainly found in the canopy of higher trees. On the move to its African wintering area, it can also be found in wine and olive plantations, in oases and in the high mountains.

Way of life

Eggs of Oriolus oriolus

Orioles feed on both vegetable and animal foods. Caterpillars and butterflies in particular are caught on insects . The vegetable diet consists mainly of sugary , sweet fruits such as cherries and various berries . The nest is hung in the crown of tall trees in the shape of a cradle in a fork that is as horizontal as possible. The eggs are light pink to whitish with small black speckles.

Stock situation

The European breeding population is estimated at 3.4 to 7.1 million breeding pairs. The main area of ​​distribution is in the more continental Eastern Europe. There are more than 100,000 breeding pairs each in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine. The population of Central Europe, however, is estimated at a total of 330,000 to 520,000 breeding pairs.

Although the oriole stocks can be exposed to very strong fluctuations from year to year, the stocks are considered stable across Europe. The main causes of risk are migration losses (accidents, shooting down) and habitat destruction in both the wintering and breeding areas. Through systematic bird trapping in the wintering areas of the oriole (including on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt), thousands of individuals are probably removed from the populations every year.

In Switzerland, the oriole is included in the national red lists . In Germany, the oriole is included in the red list's early warning list . In the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia , the oriole is on the Red List as “critically endangered”, and “endangered” in Lower Saxony and Bremen. The oriole is a particularly protected species in Germany in accordance with Section 10, Paragraph 2, Numbers 5 and 11 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act. In 1990 it was bird of the year .

Oriole and man

etymology

Oriole in the coat of arms of the goddess (Lauenburg)

After Brehm's Thierleben of 1882, the oriole was popularly called, besides the bird Bülow and the golden blackbird, among other things, the Pentecostal bird. It owes its name to the habit of arriving in Central Europe in May.

heraldry

The von Bülow noble family got their heraldic animal because of the similar sounding reputation . Vicco von Bülow took the French name of the bird as his stage name: Loriot . The bird is used as a common figure in coats of arms .

The oriole was the mascot of the mineral oil brand Minol . He is also the heraldic animal of the aviation group of the Federal Police . In connection with a pilot-related identification number, Oriole is also the radio call name of the flight service of the Federal Police according to the Aviation Handbook (AIP).

literature

  • Hans-Günther Bauer, Einhard Bezzel and Wolfgang Fiedler (eds.): The compendium of birds in Central Europe: Everything about biology, endangerment and protection. Volume 2: Passeriformes - passerine birds. Aula, Wiebelsheim 2005, ISBN 3-89104-648-0 .
  • Einhard Bezzel: The oriole. Blüchel & Philler, Minden 1989, ISBN 3-7907-0447-4 .
  • Klaus-Dieter Feige: The oriole: Oriolus oriolus. (= Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei. Volume 578). 2nd, unchanged edition. Westarp-Wissenschaft, Magdeburg / Spektrum / Heidelberg / Berlin / Oxford 1995, ISBN 3-89432-247-0 (reprint of the 1st edition, Ziemsen, Wittenberg Lutherstadt 1986, ISBN 3-7403-0018-3 ).
  • Ralf Wassmann: Ecological and ethological investigations on the oriole (Oriolus oriolus L. 1758) , [Göttingen] 1996, DNB 949852953 (Dissertation University of Göttingen 1996, 164 pages with illustrations and graphic representations, ct., 21 cm).
  • Ralf Wassmann: The oriole. A tropical forest bird in Europe? (= Ornithological Collection in Aula-Verlag ), Aula, Wiebelsheim 2004, ISBN 3-89104-671-5 .

Web links

Commons : Oriole  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. a b Bauer et al., P. 25
  2. Sound sample at nabu.de
  3. Klaus-Dieter Feige: The oriole. Ziemsen, Wittenberg-Lutherstadt 1985, ISBN 3-89432-247-0 .
  4. a b Bauer et al., P. 26
  5. a b Thorsten Krüger, Markus Nipkow: Red List of Endangered Breeding Birds in Lower Saxony and Bremen, 8th version, as of 2015 . Ed .: Lower Saxony State Agency for Water Management, Coastal Protection and Nature Conservation. tape 35 , no. 4 . Hanover April 2015, p. 195, 239 .
  6. Bird of the Year (Germany): 1990
  7. Brehm's Thierleben. General knowledge of the animal kingdom, fifth volume, second section: birds, second volume: birds of prey, passerines and clusters of birds. Leipzig: Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, 1882, pp. 531-534 .