Green Oriole Oriolus flavocinctus Scientific name definitions

25–30 cm; male 83–125 g, female 73–116 g. Male nominate race is yellowish-olive above, with light dusky streaking on crown, heavier streaking on mantle; lores dark; upperwing dark, wing-coverts edged and broadly tipped creamy white to ­yellow (appearing as wingbars on folded wing), secondaries and greater coverts edged greenish-olive; tail blackish-brown, feathers tipped creamy white to yellow, pale tips larger on inner webs; chin olive, mottled dark, throat and chest olive with dark streaks, becoming lighter and yellower and variably streaked on lower breast and belly; undertail-coverts pale yellow with greyish-olive feather centres (appearing variably mottled); iris red to bright orange; bill orange or red; legs grey. Female resembles male, but duller and rather more streaked. Immature has narrow yellow supercilium, more heavily streaked crown, nape and back, back duller green, underparts yellower, heavier black streaks from chin to upper belly, and yellow tail tips smaller; eye grey-brown, bill blackish. Race flavotinctus is larger than nominate, much brighter yellow, and much less heavily streaked above, with large yellow tail tips; <em>kingi</em> also is large, but paler yellow than previous and moderately spotted; tiwi is slightly smaller than nominate, slightly duller yellowish-olive, including on belly, with bolder blackish-brown or blackish streaking on crown and upperparts, slightly bolder blackish-brown streaking on underparts; <em>migrator</em> resembles last, but with smaller yellow tail tips; muelleri is poorly known, is smaller than nominate, with edgings and tips of wing-coverts pure white.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Rainforest, gallery forest, gallery scrub forest, lightly wooded cultivation, coastal brush, and vine thickets, especially those along permanently running streams; usually in wetter and more closed forest habitats than those occupied by O. sagittatus. Dispersing young may also be found in more marginal habitats, such as mangroves, paperbark (Melaleuca) galleries, parks, orchards and gardens, and they often move inland along streams, whereas majority of population is found in coastal areas.

Mainly sedentary. Dispersing young may roam widely, with wanderers recorded in wet forests and mangroves; no records in extreme W part of range in Mar–May and Dec–Feb.

Chiefly fruits, also some seeds and nectar ; some insects; rarely, nestlings of small birds. Berries and fruits include especially figs (Ficus), but also paw-paws (Asimina), and alien mulberries (Morus) and Japanese peppers (Zanthoxylum), among others. Insects recorded in diet are the ant Oecophylla smaragdina and lepidopteran caterpillars. Recorded as taking Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis) nestlings as food in NE Australia. Forages alone, in pairs or in small groups, from middle storey to canopy; visits orchards. Sometimes small groups of up to eight individuals gather in fruiting trees, especially towards end of dry season when resources are scarce. Sometimes joins foraging Sphecotheres vieilloti and Great Bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) groups, especially in fruiting trees.

Song a melodious roll of 3–4 loud bubbling notes , e.g. as phrase of 3 notes the last of which a gurgling sound, or as liquid “cholonk cholonk”; also a soft warbling subsong. Call a harsh sneezing sound and loud 2-note sneer.

Breeds Aug–Jan, sometimes Feb–Mar and Jul; probably single-brooded. Male sings throughout year to mark territory. Deep cup-shaped nest woven from bark fibres, grasses, leaves, twigs and vine tendrils, lined with wool, hair and finer plant material, external diameter 12·7–20·3cm, height 7·6–12·7 cm, internal diameter 7·6–10·2 cm, cup depth 5·1–7·6 cm, bound with cobweb to thin horizontal fork 2–20 m above ground in outer tree branches, often overhanging water. Clutch 2–3 eggs, creamy yellowish-white to pale creamy brown with greyish, purplish-grey and blackish-brown spots and blotches concentrated at obtuse end, dimensions 31–35 × 21·8–24 mm; incubation of eggs and brooding of chicks mainly by female, male helping occasionally, but both sexes feed chicks with regurgitated food; no information on duration of incubation and nestling periods; fledglings remain with parents in family group for a few weeks.

Not globally threatened. Common in parts of its range, which estimated to cover 100,000–1,000,000 km². Occurs in various protected areas, and not therefore at any immediate risk. Is, however, to some degree dependent on large tracts of undisturbed rainforest, and apparently cannot survive in small and isolated rainforest remnants.