[CT Birds] The oriole in Canaan

[Mark Szantyr]

I want to begin by saying that the homeowners are incredibly wonderful in 
how they have allowed access to this great bird and how hospitable they have 
been to us all.

Oriole identification is tricky, especially in sub-adult plumage.  I saw 
this bird, my third Bullock's type in CT, on Sunday and was able to get some 
excellent images.  Tom Sayers was there with me and asked what I thought.  I 
said that it looks pretty much like a Bullock's Oriole but seemed more 
orange than the other young male I have seen.  Upon getting home, I checked 
my photos and notes against all the literature I had and against images on 
the web as well as against the images I had of previous Bullock's from CT. 
A few characters stuck out as unusual to me.  Confused, I defaulted to my 
standard method of ID, that  is, begin with the age and sex.  The bird 
appeared to be a male due to the black throat and the great amount of white 
in the wing.  How old was it?  This was harder.  It looked like the bird 
showed features of an adult male ( the amount of white in the wing) and 
features of a second year male ( everything else).  I checked on molt timing 
of this species and Baltimore Oriole and found a few characters that seemed 
consistent with each of the two separate molt calendars. Hmmmm!  I noted a 
few characters that seemed inconsistent with identification as Bullock's: 
the lack of a dark post occular stripe, the extensive and rather even orange 
coloration, the seemingly excessive orange to the mantle, the more 
well-marked mantle, the appearance of orange feathering in the lesser 
coverts ( a Baltimore Oriole character).  confused, I sent the images to a 
few West Coast birders who surely had more experience with this species than 
I did.  Most of them said that it looked abnormal for Bullock's Oriole to 
them and suggested it might be a hybrid with Baltimore Oriole.  Two thought 
that it was extensively orange but maybe in the range of Bullock's.  Peter 
Pyle said that while more orange than normal, it was likely ok for 
Bullock's.

So what am I saying?   I guess I am saying that this is a very interesting 
bird.  Several characters suggest to several knowledgeable birders that this 
may be a hybrid Baltimore X Bullock's but even the experts have limited 
experience with this.  All the literature on this topic deals with adult 
plumaged birds.  If a hybrid, it is likely a second or greater generation 
hybrid because the Bullock's characters are so strong.  It is critical that 
all observers record their notes on this bird so that we have all the data 
we can muster for our continued study.  There is so little known about 
hybrid Bullock's X Baltimore in this plumage that anything we can add is 
earth-shaking.
Is it a hybrid?  Only DNA and an act of God will tell us for sure.  I am 
waiting for more reviews from western birders and will keep you posted as it 
comes in.

This is not a typical second - year male Bullock's Oriole.  Can you count it 
as one?  I guess that is up to you and your list.  If a hybrid, it would be 
much more interesting in the big picture.


Mark

Mark S.Szantyr
80 Bicknell Road
Apt. 9
Ashford, CT 06278
USA

Birddog55 at Charter.net
860-487-9766