Casqued Oropendola (Clypicterus oseryi)

Identification & Behavior: ~37 cm (14.5 in) (male) , 29 cm (11 in) (females). The Casqued Oropendola is mostly chestnut with green-olive throat and breast. The bill is yellow and rather heavy on the base with an obvious swollen frontal shield or knobby forehead. The iris is pale. The tail is yellow with a greenish central pair of feathers. The color structure is similar to that of the Olive Oropendola but is distinguished by smaller size, a yellow and heavy bill, and a distinctive pale iris.

Status: The Casqued Oropendola is rare to uncommon in the canopy of varzea and terra firme forests in Amazonia where it forages in small mono-specific flocks. It is known to range up to 1,000 m along the foothill of the Andes. The Casqued Oropendola also occurs in Co, Ec, Br, and Bo.

Name in Spanish: Oropéndola de Casquete

Subspecies: Casqued Oropendola (Clypicterus oseryi), (Deville), 1849.

Meaning of Name:  Clypicterus. L. Clypeus=a shield; icterus=a genus of oriole.
oseryi, after Eugene Comte D’Osery (1818-1846). French traveler and collector in Tropical America 1843-1846.

See more of the Family Icteridae