Eurasian Golden Oriole - Oriolus oriolus
Recently someone was so thoughtful and had sent me this beautiful Swedish postage stamp of a Eurasian Golden Oriole, and so I had to make it in to a collage painting. The male is depicted on the stamp, and I painted in the female.
Eurasian Golden Orioles have a wide range. They spend their winters in parts of Africa, and then in summer it can be found throughout Europe and Asia. They belong to the family Oriolidae which are Old World Orioles, and not related to our New World species. Orioles here in North American belong to the icterid family which includes grackles, cowbirds, meadowlarks and other blackbird species. Icterids are a really interesting family of birds, and include some of the most common and ubiquitous birds you will see here in Chicago such as the Common Crackle and Red-Winged Blackbird. Some icterids have evolved an adaptation that allows them open their bills very strongly. When foraging for food some icterid species will stab their bills in to the ground and then open them wide, prying open the ground; a behavior called gaping.
*painting is available here
Lovely painting Diana, I think it was one of these stunning birds (actually the pair) I saw in Spain a few years back, it was such a thrill, as I had seen it in my brothers bird book and it seemed so exotic! They were quite unmistakable and bright, and I was running round the garden so excited! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Julie! Yes, I bet it would be pretty amazing to see one of these. That yellow is so vibrant! We have Baltimore Orioles here where I live, but their not related. They're very bright though: black and orange.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you : )
Deletemarvellous illustration.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDelete