Stats

Lifespan

9-11 yrs

Size

Small

Diet

Omnivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Open woodland

Range

North America

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Speed

Status

Common

About

This small songbird builds hanging nests in the branches of fruit orchards. It feeds primarily on nectar and insects, often piercing the base of flowers to reach hidden sugar.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A small clutch of speckled eggs is incubated in a cup nest, turned and kept warm by the parent.
2. 2.
   hatchling

   A pink, blind hatchling is fed by its parents in the nest, gaping its bill at every visit.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest, learning to fly and to forage close to its parents.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown with adult plumage and song.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Icteridae

Genus

Icterus

Species

Icterus spurius