Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)

Baltimore Oriole [ventral view of adult male]. Photograph Credit: David L. Roemer; Barren River Lake State Park, Barren County, Kentucky; 16 May 2012.

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Abundance: Uncommon during spring; Very Uncommon during fall; Very Uncommon to locally Uncommon during summer; Rare during winter; however, abundance increases in the northwestern-most county of the Region (Barren County, Kentucky); recorded in 25 Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are inadequate to determine a trend in the Regional breeding population (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Summer Resident; Visitor during winter (3 records); photograph (see above).

Regional High Count and SBC/SBB High Count: 14 (28 April 2007; Smith County, Tennessee [SBB]; m. ob.); FBC/FBB High Count: 1 (4 counts, including Clinton County, Kentucky, FBB; Wayne County, Kentucky, FBB; Putnam County, Tennessee, FBC [2007]; and White County, Tennessee, FBC [2011]; these are the only Regional fall counts on which this species has ever been recorded).

Out-of-Season (Winter) Records: 

10 January–15 February 1966 (1—age/sex unknown) Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee [presumably] (Thelma Tinnon; White 1966a).

16 December 1979 (1—adult male) Rt. 39, Somerset, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Jackie B. Elmore, Sr.; Stamm 1980b; Elmore 1980a; Shadowen 1980), a CBC record.

19 December 1998–10 March 1999 (1—female/immature) Liberty Church Rd., Putnam County, Tennessee (Ginger K. Ensor, Kenneth L. Morgan, Stephen J. Stedman et al.; Stedman 1999b; Stedman 2006–2012), a CBC record on the first date.

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: x (

    Late Fall: x (

    Note: Spring arrival usually widespread by 5 May; fall departure largely complete by 15 September.  Regional dates of earliest reported spring arrival and latest reported fall departure for the years 2002–2011 follow:

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). Baltimore Orioles construct one of the most distinctive nests among all songbirds, but the nest can seldom be viewed clearly until after leaf-fall, when the somewhat pendulous nest of this blackbird becomes evident, almost always hanging from the very end of branches that hang down from the 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM part of the canopy, when the canopy is perceived as a clock-face.  Nests may persist well into winter, even into the following spring.  American sycamore, tulip poplar, and cottonwood are favored trees for the placement of nests.

Habitat: Park-like sites harboring large, mature trees with little undergrowth beneath them are often chosen by this oriole as breeding sites; the presence of a pond or lake nearby seems to increase the likelihood of this species' presence.  During many summers from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, one or more pairs nested along the south shore of the lake at Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee; this oriole became less reliable as a breeder in the park during the mid to late 2000s, but it was still detected at that site during the 2011 UCR Foray in Putnam County.  The northeastern sector of Cumberland County, Tennessee, interestingly hosted a moderately dense population of Baltimores during many years of the 2000s, with the species being detected in seven foray blocks in the part of the county during the 2010 UCR Foray in Cumberland County, making that area (and the northwestern border of Pulaski County, Kentucky) among the most densely populated with Baltimores in the Region.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 2 (of 125) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 10 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, resulting in YardWatch frequency classifications of Rare and Very Uncommon, respectively; these YardWatch frequency classifications suggest that the Baltimore is somewhat less frequently encountered in Regional yards and neighborhoods than in the Region generally.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: The lovely song of this oriole is quite softly uttered, making it among the most difficult to detect of all the songbird songs; its blackbird-like call notes are much more readily detected than the song.  The Baltimore's song is also quite variable, indeed being one of the most variable songs among all songbirds, perhaps vying with the American Redstart in this regard.  Like the variability of the redstart's song, which is mainly a function of age (i.e., young males appear to exhibit most of the variability in the songs of the species), the variability of the Baltimore's song is possibly also age-related; if not, then the cause of the variability in its song would be good to determine.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited