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Find a Bird

Baltimore Oriole
Icterus galbula

Baltimore Oriole
  • Nearly ubiquitous and likely increasing

  • Action/monitoring needed

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“To hear an Oriole sing / May be a common thing, / Or only a divine.” – Emily Dickinson, “Part Two: Nature”

The whistled caroling of a Baltimore Oriole delights the ear during the spring and summer when these handsome birds return to Massachusetts for the breeding season. Baltimore Orioles are so named because their orange-and-black plumage recalls the heraldic colors of the Barons of Baltimore, who were the proprietors of colonial Maryland. This species has made itself at home alongside humanity throughout the eastern United States, and Massachusetts is no exception. The species has persisted in Massachusetts despite periods of widespread deforestation by favoring orchards, shady suburban avenues, and clusters of trees left standing along the edges of rivers and lakes.

Historic Status

Bird gawkers of old delighted every spring in the return of the Golden Robin, Fire-bird, Hang-nest, or, indeed, the Fire-hang-bird. “The Baltimore Oriole,” wrote William Peabody in 1839, “is perhaps the most splendid of all our summer visitors, and is admired, both for the richness of its plumage, and the full-hearted sweetness of its song” (Peabody, 1839). It has been a harbinger of spring since the days before European colonization. “The coming of the Baltimore Oriole to the north is always an event to be welcomed with joy,” wrote Edward Howe Forbush in 1927. “Ever in New England this beautiful, elegantly formed bird is associated with blooming apple orchards, and with peach and cherry blossoms.”

Atlas 1 Distribution

In Atlas 1 there were very few places in the state where Baltimore Orioles could not be found, and they eked out 83% block occupancy statewide. They were widespread in the Berkshires, though the highest elevations of the Berkshire Highlands were conifer dominated and thus less attractive to orioles. The species’ preference for river corridors was evident from the considerable breeding activity in the Connecticut River Valley, and they had 100% block occupancy in the Marble Valleys. In the eastern regions of the state, the breeding distribution of the Baltimore Oriole was weighted toward the Coastal Plains, and weighted away from the Cape and Islands, but even there block occupancy was 64%.

Atlas 2 Distribution and Change

As with many other species with an expanding breeding footprint, the Baltimore Oriole has grown in block occupancy by persisting in Atlas 1 blocks while also occupying new blocks. This increase has helped the species reach statewide block occupancy rates of 93%, with region-specific occupancy rates falling below 90% only in the Taconics, Lower Berkshire Hills, and Cape Cod and the Islands ecoregions.

 

Atlas 1 Map

bba1 map

Atlas 2 Map

bba2 map

Atlas Change Map

change map
 

Ecoregion Data


 

Atlas 1

Atlas 2

Change

Ecoregion

# Blocks

% Blocks

% of Range

# Blocks

% Blocks

% of Range

Change in # Blocks

Change in % Blocks

Taconic Mountains

15

93.8

1.9

20

80.0

2.1

0

0.0

Marble Valleys/Housatonic Valley

39

100.0

4.9

39

100.0

4.0

0

0.0

Berkshire Highlands

43

78.2

5.4

53

96.4

5.5

8

15.1

Lower Berkshire Hills

26

92.9

3.3

24

77.4

2.5

-3

-11.1

Vermont Piedmont

16

94.1

2.0

17

100.0

1.8

0

0.0

Berkshire Transition

30

78.9

3.8

39

97.5

4.0

5

16.1

Connecticut River Valley

51

91.1

6.4

61

93.8

6.3

3

6.3

Worcester Plateau

55

70.5

6.9

87

98.9

9.0

5

10.4

Lower Worcester Plateau

58

78.4

7.3

79

98.8

8.2

7

13.0

S. New England Coastal Plains and Hills

239

88.5

29.9

278

98.2

28.8

18

8.0

Boston Basin

46

82.1

5.8

53

94.6

5.5

6

10.9

Bristol and Narragansett Lowlands

95

89.6

11.9

107

93.9

11.1

6

5.9

Cape Cod and Islands

87

64.0

10.9

107

74.3

11.1

14

11.7

Statewide Total

800

82.6

100.0

964

93.0

100.0

69

8.3

 

Notes

Despite this apparent stability of their breeding footprint, the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) shows significant declines in Baltimore Orioles' abundance for Massachusetts, the New England/Mid-Atlantic Region, and the Eastern US overall. They fall into our “whispering bird” category – those species with a demonstrated stable or increasing breeding footprint from Atlas 2 data, but also a demonstrated decline in abundance from the BBS. This drives our final assessment that this is a species with a need for further monitoring and conservation action.

Breeding Bird Survey Chart