Yellow-tailed Oriole

The yellow-tailed oriole (Icterus mesomelas) is a passerine bird in the New World family Icteridae. It breeds from southern Mexico to western Peru and northwestern Venezuela; in Peru it also lives in a river valley corridor. The yellow-tailed oriole is 22–23 cm (8.7–9.1 in) long and weighs 70 g (2.5 oz). It is mainly yellow with a black back, lower face and upper breast. The wings are black with yellow epaulets. The tail, seen from above, is black with yellow margins; from below, it appears almost entirely yellow. This is the only oriole with prominent yellow in the tail, hence the species' name. The sexes are similar, but young birds have the black on the back and tail replaced with olive-green. There are four subspecies: I. m. mesomelas – (Wagler, 1829): nominate, found from Mexico to Honduras, has yellow fringes to the tertials I. m. salvinii – Cassin, 1867: found in the Caribbean lowlands of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, has no yellow fringes to the tertials and is more orange than the nominate race I. m. carrikeri – Todd, 1917: found in Panama, Colombia and northwestern Venezuela, is like salvinii, but less orange and smaller-billed I. m. taczanowskiis – Ridgway…