Icterus galbula

 Icterus galbula is the scientific name for the Baltimore Oriole. The Baltimore oriole is one of nine species of orioles found in North America. Although they look similar to orioles from other parts of the world the North American orioles are all part of the genus Icterus which is a part of the Icteridae family which also includes blackbirds, cowbirds and meadowlarks. All of members of the genus Icterus are brightly colored, usually a combination of orange and black or yellow and black.

The Baltimore oriole has one of the largest ranges of all of the Icterus. There breading range stretches across most of the eastern United States and stretches up into central Canada. Theeir range overlaps the bullocks oriole in the central portions of North America. The two species where once considered one species called the northern oriole, mostly because of extensive hybridization where the ranges cross, but DNA testing in the 1990's led to the separation of the two species. One of the cool things of most of the orioles is their nest. The female builds a sock like nest that hangs down from the branches. The female above was in the process of building her nes when I photographed her.The top photo is a male, which have a deeper orange color and black head during the breeding season.