oriole

Most dictionaries suggest that the name ‘oriole’ comes from the Latin word aureolus meaning ‘golden’. Indeed, many of the 28 species in the oriole family are combinations of golden yellow and black. Orioles are related to starlings and drongos and are found in Eurasia and a limited area of Africa. The golden oriole is found in Europe.

Any of several brightly coloured songbirds belonging to two families: New World orioles belong to the family Icteridae, and Old World orioles are members of the family Oriolidae. They eat insects, seeds, and fruit.

The family Icteridae also includes blackbirds, bobolinks, grackles, meadowlarks, cowbirds, and tanagers. The northern oriole (Icterus galbula) of North America has a black head and wings and bright orange underparts.

New World orioles measure 16–53 cm/6–21 in in length and are mainly black, with bright patches of yellow, also reds or browns. They are mostly loud singers. Their purselike nests, sometimes 60 cm/24 in long, hang from branches, with an entrance near the bottom to one side. They are related to the starlings and weaverbirds of the eastern hemisphere.

Old World orioles have a very brilliant plumage, and the male bird utters a flutelike note.