金黄鹂种

亚种

金黄鹂新疆亚种（学名：Oriolus oriolus kundoo）。分布于西伯利亚、帕米尔、喀什米尔、喜马拉雅、印度、斯里兰卡岛以及中国大陆的新疆、西藏等地。该物种的模式产地在印度Dukhum。

金黄鹂指名亚种（学名：Oriolus oriolus oriolus）。分布于欧洲至西伯利亚、中亚地区、印度、非洲以及中国大陆的新疆等地。该物种的模式产地在瑞典。

文化

音乐家奥立佛·梅湘创作的钢琴独奏曲集《鸟类图志》中的第2曲以金黄鹂为题。

The Eurasian golden oriole (Oriolus oriolus), also known as the common golden oriole, is a species of passerine bird, measuring approximately 24cm in length with a wingspan of 44-45cm, and the only Old World oriole breeding in Northern Hemisphere temperate regions. It is a summer migrant in Europe and the Palearctic and spends the winter season in central and southern Africa.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Eurasian golden oriole was formally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He named the species Coracias oriolus, assigning it to the genus Coracias, which now contains only rollers. The species is now placed in the genus Oriolus that Linnaeus introduced in 1766, creating a tautonym.

The Eurasian golden oriole and the Indian golden oriole were formerly considered conspecific, but in 2005 they were treated as separate species by the ornithologists Pamela Rasmussen and John Anderton, in the first edition of their Birds of South Asia. Support for this split was provided by a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010, and most ornithologists now treat the Indian golden oriole as a separate species. Alternate names for the Eurasian golden oriole include the European golden oriole and western Eurasian golden oriole. The species is monotypic; no subspecies are recognized.

Etymology

The name "oriole" was first used in the 18th century and is an adaptation of the scientific Latin genus name, which is derived from the Classical Latin "aureolus" meaning golden.

Description

The male is striking in the typical oriole black and yellow plumage, but the female is a drabber green bird. Orioles are shy, and even the male is remarkably difficult to see in the dappled yellow and green leaves of the canopy. In flight they look somewhat like a thrush, strong and direct with some shallow dips over longer distances.

Its call is a harsh "kweeaahk", but the song is a fluting weela-wee-ooo or or-iii-ole, unmistakable once heard, often with subtle variations between each phrase.

The male of the Indian golden oriole (Oriolus kundoo) has a black eye-stripe extending behind the eye, has a longer and paler red bill and has more yellow in the plumage.

Distribution and habitat

The breeding range of this species spans from western Europe and Scandinavia east to China. They winter in central and southern Africa. They generally migrate during the night, but may travel during the day in the spring migration. During the autumn migration they migrate via the Eastern Mediterranean where they feed on fruit; they are often considered a pest in this region because of this. They formerly bred in Great Britain; the last confirmed breeding was in 2009 in East Anglia.

The Eurasian golden oriole inhabits a range of habitats. In Western Europe they prefer open broadleaf forests and plantations, copses, riverine forests, orchards, large gardens; in Eastern Europe they may inhabit more continuous forests as well as mixed or coniferous forests. They generally avoid treeless habitats but may forage there. In their wintering habitat they are found in semi-arid to humid woodland, tall forests, riverine forest, woodland/savanna mosaic and savanna.

Behaviour and ecology

Breeding

Eurasian golden orioles may delay breeding until they are 2 or 3 years of age. Males usually arrive at breeding area several days before the females. The fidelity to a territory or even to a specific nest site suggests that the pair-bond may continue from one breeding season to the next. The nest is placed high in a tree towards the edge of the crown. The deep cup-shaped nest is suspended below a horizontal fork of thin branches. It is built by the female, but the male will sometimes gather some of the material. The nest is held in place by plant fibres up to 40 cm (16 in) in length and lined with fine grass, feathers and wool. The clutch is usually between 3 and 5 eggs. These are laid at daily intervals early in the morning. The eggs are on average 30.4 mm × 21.3 mm (1.20 in × 0.84 in) with a calculated weight of 7.3 g (0.26 oz). They can be white, cream or very pale pink and are decorated with black marks which are sometimes concentrated at the larger end. The eggs are mainly incubated by the female but the male will incubate for short periods to allow the female to feed. The eggs hatch after 16–17 days.

Conservation

Golden orioles have an extremely large range with large populations that are apparently stable. Therefore, they are evaluated as least concern by BirdLife International.