Gary Felton wrote:

"Peterson, in both his Western NA and Mexican guides, pictures
the main body (back, breast, belly, sides and flanks) of a male,
Streak-backed Oriole as being mostly yellowish and contrasting
sharply to the orangish head. On the other hand, the third edition
NGS guide pictures the main body of the bird as orangish with
much less contrast to the head.

Would someone who has actually seen the bird, let me know
which it is, more yellowish or more orangish? Which guide
is more accurate in this regard?"

There are three photos of Streak-backed Oriole in the Thayers birds of North
America CD. Two show yellow to yellow-orange on the body with gradual
grading to more orange-yellow on the head, much like Peterson's drawing. One
shows a bird with more intense orange on the head, neck and breast with more
of a sharp demarcation to the surrounding plumage, much like the NGS field
guide picture. I would assume that there is significant variation in
plumage, reflected in the different renditions you noticed. Just one more
reason to have more than one field guide! I have also found that while
photos are a poor choice for a primary field guide, they are often very
useful for sorting out subtle distinctions like this question.



Jack Stephens
Edmonds, WA
jsteph02 at sprynet.com