Variable Oriole

The variable oriole (Icterus pyrrhopterus) is a species of bird in the family Icteridae, the oropendolas, New World orioles, and New World blackbirds. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay and as a vagrant to Chile. == Taxonomy and systematics == The variable oriole was formally described in 1819 with the binomial Agelaius pyrrhopterus. It and its subspecies were long treated as the "pyrrhopterus group" within the epaulet oriole (Icterus cayanensis sensu lato). It was returned to full species status beginning in 2010. The variable oriole has these four subspecies: I. p. periporphyrus (Bonaparte, 1850) I. p. pyrrhopterus (Vieillot, 1819) I. p. tibialis Swainson, 1838 I. p. valenciobuenoi Ihering, HFA, 1902 Some authors include subspecies I. p. valenciobuenoi within either I. p. pyrrhopterus or I. p. tibialis. Subspecies I. p. periporphyrus has also been treated as part of I. p. pyrrhopterus. In addition, some authors have suggested that I. p. tibialis should be treated as a full species. The Clements taxonomy recognizes the distinctiveness of I. p. tibialis within the species, calling it the "variable oriole (yellow-shouldered)" and grouping the other three subspecies as the "variable oriole (chestnut-shouldered)". == Description == The variable oriole is about 20…