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 - Variable Oriole
 - Variable Oriole
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 - Variable Oriole (Chestnut-shouldered)
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Variable Oriole Icterus pyrrhopterus Scientific name definitions

Rosendo Fraga and Eduardo de Juana
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated September 10, 2018

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Introduction

The name Variable Oriole is a new one to many birders, as this was part of the Epaulet Oriole up until recently. Essentially, the darker shouldered versions to the south of the Amazon Basin have been separated from the yellow shouldered types to the north (which in turn sometimes include the Moriche Oriole, depending on the taxonomy used). This oriole’s taxonomy is complex, but in some areas of Bolivia, yellow-shouldered (Epaulet), and chestnut-shouldered (Variable) orioles are found in the same areas without any evidence of hybridization. There is no purer test of species status than that! The Variable Oriole is a species of woodland, open forest, second growth, parks, gardens and urban areas even. Unlike the more northern Epaulet Oriole, it has no particular preference or requirement for palms, particularly Moriche Palm. It is found from sea level to at least 1,500 m in elevation. The widespread southern form, pyrrhopterus, of the Variable Oriole is all black with a chestnut epaulet. It is a small and very thin and long-tailed species. Farther north in Bolivia and western Brazil the epaulet is slightly lighter, tawny in color. In south central Brazil the epaulets become more tawny-yellow, while in eastern Brazil the Variable Oriole has even more yellowish epaulets as well as yellow thighs.

Subspecies


EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)

Variable Oriole (Yellow-shouldered) Icterus pyrrhopterus tibialis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

E Brazil from Maranhão and Ceará S to Rio de Janeiro.

EBIRD GROUP (POLYTYPIC)

Variable Oriole (Chestnut-shouldered) Icterus pyrrhopterus [pyrrhopterus Group]

Available illustrations of subspecies in this group

SUBSPECIES

Icterus pyrrhopterus pyrrhopterus Scientific name definitions

Distribution
SE Bolivia (S Santa Cruz S to Tarija), Paraguay, S Brazil (Mato Grosso do Sul and Rio Grande do Sul), N and NE Argentina (S to San Juan, San Luis and Buenos Aires) and Uruguay.

SUBSPECIES

Icterus pyrrhopterus valenciobuenoi Scientific name definitions

Distribution
SE Brazil (Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná and Santa Catarina).

SUBSPECIES

Icterus pyrrhopterus periporphyrus Scientific name definitions

Distribution
EC Bolivia (Beni, Cochabamba and N Santa Cruz) and adjacent SC Brazil (Mato Grosso).
Distribution of the Variable Oriole - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Variable Oriole

Recommended Citation

Fraga, R. and E. de Juana (2020). Variable Oriole (Icterus pyrrhopterus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.epaori4.01
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