Orioles are colourful Old World passerine birds in the genus Oriolus, the type genus of the corvoidean family Oriolidae. They are not closely related to the New World orioles, which are icterids (family Icteridae) that belong to the superfamily Passeroidea.
Taxonomy and systematics The genus Oriolus was erected in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 12th edition of his Systema Naturae. The type species is, by tautonomy, Oriolus galbula Linnaeus, 1766. This is a junior synonym of Coracias oriolus Linnaeus, 1758, the Eurasian golden oriole. In 1760, French ornithologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in his Ornithologie used Oriolus as a subdivision of the genus Turdus, but the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature ruled in 1955 that "Oriolus Brisson, 1760" should be suppressed. Linnaeus added more than a dozen additional genera when he updated his 10th edition, but he generally based new genera on those that had been introduced by Brisson in his Ornithologie. Oriolus is now the only genus for which Linnaeus's 12th edition is cited as the original publication. The name is derived from the old French word oriol, which is echoic in origin, derived from the call of the bird, but some authors have suggested origins in classical Latin aureolus meaning "golden". Various forms of "oriole" have existed in Romance languages since the 12th and 13th centuries.
Extant species
The genus contains 32 species:
Image Common name Scientific name Distribution Brown oriole Oriolus szalayi New Guinea Dusky-brown oriole Oriolus phaeochromus North Maluku Grey-collared oriole Oriolus forsteni Seram Black-eared oriole Oriolus bouroensisBuru Island Tanimbar oriole Oriolus decipiensTanimbar Islands Timor oriole Oriolus melanotis Timor, Rote and Semau Islands Wetar oriole Oriolus finschi Wetar and Atauro Islands Olive-backed oriole Oriolus sagittatus eastern Australia and south-central New Guinea. Green oriole Oriolus flavocinctusAustralia and New Guinea Dark-throated oriole Oriolus xanthonotus Southeast Asia through Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Bangka, Java and southwestern Borneo Ventriloquial oriole Oriolus consobrinus Borneo and the Philippines Philippine oriole Oriolus steeriithe Philippines White-lored oriole Oriolus albilorisLuzon Island (the Philippines) Isabela oriole Oriolus isabellaeLuzon Eurasian golden oriole Oriolus oriolusEurope and western Asia, and spends the winter season in central and southern Africa Indian golden oriole Oriolus kundooIndian subcontinent and Central Asia African golden oriole Oriolus auratus Africa south of the Sahara desert Slender-billed oriole Oriolus tenuirostris eastern Himalayas to Southeast Asia Black-naped oriole Oriolus chinensiseastern Siberia, Ussuriland, northeastern China, Korea and northern Vietnam Green-headed oriole Oriolus chlorocephaluseastern Africa São Tomé oriole Oriolus crassirostris island of São Tomé Western oriole Oriolus brachyrynchusAfrican tropical rainforest Ethiopian oriole Oriolus monacha north-eastern Africa Mountain oriole Oriolus percivali Albertine Rift montane forests, Uganda and Kenya Black-headed oriole Oriolus larvatusAfrica Black-winged oriole Oriolus nigripennis African tropical rainforest Black-hooded oriole Oriolus xanthornustropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia Black oriole Oriolus hosiiSarawak in Borneo Black-and-crimson oriole Oriolus consanguineus Indonesia and Malaysia Javan oriole Oriolus cruentus Indonesia Maroon oriole Oriolus trailliiSoutheast Asia Silver oriole Oriolus mellianussouthern China and winters in mainland Southeast Asia
Former species Formerly, some authorities also considered these species (or subspecies) as species within the genus Oriolus: Green figbird (as Oriolus viridis) Brown-eared bulbul (squamiceps) (as Oriolus squamiceps)
Distribution and habitat The orioles are a mainly tropical group, although one species, the Eurasian golden oriole, breeds in temperate regions.
References
External links Orioles (Oriolidae) - videos, photos and sounds at the Internet Bird Collection