ML494227791
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Media notes
A female-plumaged Orchard Oriole that was found by the Benson/Grube/Koonce/O'Connor party was here photographed by Curtis A. Marantz on 15 October 2022 at Campbell House, Twentynine Palms, San Bernardino County, California.
Observation details
Daniels spotted the continuing oriole within moments of our arrival at the gardens around Campbell House as it perched high in a dead tree in the southeastern corner of the gardens. When initially seen, this bird was perched in open on dead branches preening, first showing the underparts, then the upperparts, and in general, our views were quite good even though the oriole remained 10-12 meters above the ground. We studied this bird and took photos for a short time before the bird flew into the fruiting fan palms above us and disappeared. Shorty later, it reappeared in the leafless tree before it flew into another fan palm, where it again perched in the open. Eventually this bird flew to the north and disappeared. Despite some additional time spent watching these trees, I never did see the oriole again. Overall, my views of this bird were quite good, but always from below. This was a conspicuously small oriole that was comparable in length to nearby House Finches, but with a slimmer body. I also noted that the bill was noticeably short, slim throughout its length and tapering to a finely pointed tip, albeit with a sightly decurved culmen. The small size of the bill also corresponded with a steeper forehead and more strongly rounded crown than are typical of a Hooded Oriole. The head was nevertheless of unremarkable size for an oriole, but the neck was maybe a little shorter and the body plumper and more compact than those of a Hooded Oriole. I failed to check the primary projection in the field, but it may be shown in my photos; however, I did notice that the wingtips reached right about to the tips of the tapered undertail-coverts. The tail was relatively short for an oriole, in that it was only about as long as the body without the head and neck, it was relatively slim, slightly flared distally, and noticeably notched at the tip. In fact, the depth of the notch, was sufficient that I wondered if the bird was missing central rectrices. The legs were of unremarkable length for an oriole, but their mass was heavier than expected from a warbler. This was a colorful bird, on which the head, neck, and the entire underparts were a bright, lemon-yellow in color and without any pattern or internal markings. Moreover, the shade of yellow was a pure, lemon-yellow, possibly tending slightly toward green, as opposed to having the buffy or orange tones that are evident on many female-plumaged Hooded Orioles. I noted no obvious paling on the belly or flanks on a bird. The underside of the tail was olive with a distinct yellow cast, but no obvious pattern. My views of the upperparts were not as good as those of the underparts, in part because I took photos during the brief period when I saw the bird from behind. I cannot now recall if the back of the neck was yellow or greenish, but I thought the back was olive to greenish and without obvious markings, though I likely would have missed subtle markings. The wings were dusky in color with two well-defined wingbars that represented narrow, whitish tips to the greater and median coverts. I also noted a row of well-defined stripes between the wingbars that appeared to represent narrow edges to the greater coverts, but I failed to notice the color of these edges. The remiges were likewise fringed narrowly with a paler color that I suspect was either yellowish or whitish, but again, I cannot now recall the color, and I have no recollection whatsoever of checking on the exposed wingtips, rump, or the upperside of the tail. I thought the bill was mostly light gray on the lower mandible, but darker on the upper mandible, and also that the eyes were dark, but of an uncertain color. The legs and what I could see of the feet appeared to be a medium gray to bluish-gray in color.
Technical information
- Model
- Canon EOS 7D Mark II
- Lens
- EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
- ISO
- 320
- Focal length
- 400 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire
- f-stop
- f/6.3
- Shutter speed
- 1/2000 sec
- Dimensions
- 1443 pixels x 884 pixels
- Original file size
- 1.95 MB