Hello and welcome.

This is the Science of Birds.

I am your host, Ivan Philipson.

The Science of Birds podcast is a lighthearted exploration of bird biology for lifelong learners.

And I'm happy to say that it is random bird Thursday.

In this short and mostly unscripted episode, I'll be spotlighting a bird species that probably won't get featured in a full-length normal episode.

There are over 11,000 bird species in the world, and so Random Bird Thursday is our opportunity to celebrate one of those species that we might otherwise overlook.

So let me just reach over here and push the random bird selector button and let's see who we're

talking about today.

Okay, very cool. We have the streak-backed oriole. Icturus Pustulatus, the streak-backed oriole. And how about we just get right on into it? Let's learn about this bird. So starting with

what it looks like.

This is a medium-sized passerine bird, a songbird.

It's about seven and a half to eight and a half inches long from beak to tail, and that's

19 to 21 centimeters.

And your impression, if you see one, is that it is overall a orange and black bird, or yellowish and black.

The head is a bit more orange, whereas the body kind of leans towards yellow.

The wings are black, the tail is black.

There's a sort of a black mask.

The lores in front of the eye are black, and the chin leading down into the upper breast is black.

The bill is blackish, kind of bluish gray in parts, as well as the feet.

Those are also bluish gray.

And I should say that the wings have white edges to the feathers, which kind of highlights each feather, which is really cool.

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