A new species to Ecuador: Yellow-backed Oriole

Yellow backed Oriole 2On 11 January 2011 a flock of Yellow-backed Orioles Icterus chrysater giraudii was seen in the mangroves of far Northwest Ecuador. This new species to Ecuador was found by Lelis Navarrete, Ann Forster and Sharonda Owens. They observed the birds during a canoe trip in the Manglares Cayapas-Mataje Reserve (10 22’35.14” N, 780 52’05.52 S) and Sharonda was able to get photographical documentation. The nearest town to the observation site was Changuaral in the province of Esmeraldas.

The Yellow-backed Oriole was known to occur just across the border in Colombia and was therefore mentioned as a potential species to Ecuador by Ridgely and Greenfield 2001 (p.803). It remains unclear if the species is a resident or a wanderer to Ecuador. This observation is the first record for Ecuador and the southernmost known record for the species.


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Aves Ecuador by Dušan M. Brinkhuizen