Black-naped Oriole

Fascinating facts about the Black-naped Oriole

• Female black-naped orioles often build several potential nests in a single breeding attempt, typically constructing two or three deep cups in the forks of trees before settling on the one that will receive the eggs. The extra nests are left unused, and males have been observed perching beside these abandoned structures while the female continues her work.
• A typical clutch of the black-naped oriole contains two to three eggs that are a distinctive salmon pink colour, each marked with reddish spots and darker blotches that help camouflage them among the nest material. The modest number of eggs reflects the species' strategy of investing considerable parental care in each chick.
• Black-naped orioles only began to breed in Singapore in the 1920s, when they were first recorded establishing nests in the city's gardens and parks. Since that early colonisation they have become a familiar sight, now occurring commonly even in cultivated garden spaces. Their successful adaptation to urban habitats has led to a steady increase in local numbers, making them a regular component of Singapore's avian community today.
• Its eye-stripe broadens and meets at the back of the neck, creating a wide black mask that runs from the eye across the nape. This contrasts sharply with the Indian golden oriole, whose stripe stays short and narrow. The extensive mask gives the black-naped oriole a striking facial pattern that birdwatchers use to tell the two species apart in the field. The broad band is a consistent feature across its many Asian populations.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

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