THIS is an exceptionally striking bird that is quite common in the Highway area and often heard due to its loud, melodious call. Despite the loud call, it can be deceptively difficult to spot and even more difficult to photograph as it tends to spend most of its time high up in the forest canopy.
Distribution
This bird is found in most of the eastern parts of Africa and in South Africa it is a resident species in the northern and eastern parts down to the southern cape.
Habitat
The Black-headed Oriole’s preferred habitat is wooded areas, preferably with a closed-canopy. It has become quite adept at living within urban areas and can be found in many gardens. It tends to spend most of its time in the upper reaches of the forest canopy, where it can be heard calling its very melodious and repetitive call, a very musical “wholeuooo”. This prominent call is sometimes interspersed with other melodious notes.
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Feeding
The Black-headed Oriole’s diet comprises mainly of caterpillars, insects, as well as berries fruit and sweet nectar. Most of the feeding is done within the forest canopy and you will very seldom see this bird on the ground. It has a powerful bill that is an asset in capturing and devouring its prey.
Breeding
This is a monogamous species and pairs mate for life. The nest is built mainly by the female and, in KwaZulu-Natal, she will lay two or three eggs between September and December. Hatching occurs after approximately 15 days.
Predators and threats
Black-headed Orioles are hunted by Black Sparrowhawks and Lanner Falcons. Although classified as Least Concern in the IUCN listing, they are under threat in areas where heavy deforestation takes place.
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Local information
This bird is reasonably common in most Highway gardens, particularly those with plenty of trees.
The name ‘oriole’ derives from the Latin word ‘aureoles’ which means ‘golden’.
The reputation of orioles as songbirds has resulted in the American cousins of this species inspiring the song Baltimore Oriole. This was originally recorded by Hoagy Carmichael in the 1940s and later by George Harrison in the 1980s. There is also a major league baseball team that was inspired to use the birds name, The Baltimore Orioles.
There is a large amount of folklore linked to the orioles and in the Far East, for example, the local orioles are of important cultural significance as they symbolise friendship.
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