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Great-tails, in contrast to Boat-tailed Grackles, breed only in the western part of the state and (rarely) in the Red River Valley. These urban-tolerant, colonial, and branch-nesting omnivores invaded the Prairie/Rice Field Region from Texas in the late 1950's. Their expansion southward into the Coastal Marsh Region in the early 1970's resulted in occasional hybridization with Boat-tails.
female Copyright © 1999 by Dan Lane&
male Copyright © 1999 by Bill Bergen
female (inset) and male (right)
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These common, colonial, and branch-nesting insectivores breed throughout the state except in closed forests. They even nest in the coastal marshes in rows of trees on spoil banks and levees. They regularly host Bronzed Cowbirds in the New Orleans area and Brown-headed Cowbirds throughout their range. The Orchard Oriole is on the Audubon WatchList for Louisiana.
painting by Louis Agassiz Fuertes 1914
female (right), first summer male (middle), and older male (left)
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(Formerly and briefly Northern Oriole) These urban-tolerant, branch-nesting insectivores breed uncommonly in Louisiana, primarily in cottonwoods and other trees along the biggest rivers. Loose colonies may be found in the same batture woodlands as Warbling Vireos, but the orioles are much more common than the vireos. The "Possible" records on the map may be migrants or other nonbreeding individuals.
painting by Louis Agassiz Fuertes 1914
male (left) and female (right)