Icterus abeillei
Silhouette: Matt Wilkins · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The black-backed oriole (Icterus abeillei) is a species of bird in the family Icteridae, the oropendolas, New World orioles, and New World blackbirds. It is endemic to Mexico. The black-backed oriole was formally described in 1839 with the binomial Xanthornis Abeillei (sic). At one time it and what are now Bullock's oriole (I. bullockiorum) and the Baltimore oriole (I. galbula) were treated as conspecific.
The black-backed oriole is monotypic. The black-backed oriole is 18 to 20.5 cm (7.1 to 8.1 in) long and weighs 31 to 37 g (1.1 to 1.3 oz). Adult males are black on the crown, sides of the head, nape, and upperparts. They have an orange line above the lores, thin orange crescents above and below the eye, and orange cheeks. Their upperwing is mostly black with wide white edges on the flight feathers. The wing's median and greater coverts are white and show as a large patch on the closed wing. Their tail's three outer pairs of feathers are yellow with black tips and the rest are black. They have a black chin that extends in a thin stripe down the throat. The rest of their throat and their underparts are orange-yellow. Their flanks and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black-backed Oriole sighting in Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 90th most-seen of the 103 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-backed Oriole in Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca on a given day, against under 5% in May and October–February, the lowest months. That is one of Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca's driest months, with about 35 mm of rain against 270 mm in July. April and June–September have too few records to rate.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-backed Oriole sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca, in our data
Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Black-backed Oriole sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-backed Oriole is recorded against all the birds logged in Reserva de la Biosfera Mariposa Monarca (9 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
