Black-cowled Oriole

Icterus prosthemelas

eBird describes the Black-cowled Oriole this way:  Attractive black-and-yellow oriole of humid tropical lowlands. Favors forest edge, plantations, semi-open areas with tall hedges and flowering trees. Often in flowering trees with other species of orioles. Plumage rather variable, but note the rather small, slightly decurved bill. Male has black head and back in Mexico and northern Central America, female has black face and greenish back. Sexes look alike in southern Central America. Not especially vocal.

  The Birds of the World website introduces this bird with the following:  This oriole was formerly considered conspecific with all of the four species that were briefly considered to form part of the Greater Antillean Oriole (Icterus dominicensis), on the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. The mainland population, which has retained the vernacular name Black-cowled Oriole, is found over the Caribbean slope of Middle America, from southern Mexico to western Panama. Two subspecies are generally recognized for these mainland birds. The sexes differ in plumage, with males being largely black above and over the head and neck, other than the yellow rump and lesser wing coverts, while the belly and ventral underparts are also yellow. In contrast, females are black only over the face and foreneck, and on the wings, being olive-green over the mantle to tail, with indistinct yellow epaulets, and largely yellow underparts.

I saw my first Black-coweled Oriole on the late afternoon of Sunday, February 5, 2023, at La Selva.  We spotted this bird right next to the mess hall.  As was the case with a number of the birds I watched that day, I wasn’t able to get a very good photo of this bird–  just good enough to make a positive identification.  So, be forewarned that the photos below are not great, to say the least.  To see my blog post that includes my visit to La Selva and my meeting with this bird, look here.