Creature Feature #546: Oropendola

Never heard of an Oropendola? Don't worry, neither had I, not until one turned up featuer din my bird-a-day calendar (this calendar, btw, explains why there are so many birds in this project, the other reason being that I really like birds.)

There are nine species of Oropendola, a South American passerine, of the New World blackbird Family. (not to be confused with the Old World blackbirds, to which they are not closely related). Like his cousin, the Cacique, he is gregarious and vocal, with a wide range of songs. In this species, the Montezuma Oropendola, the male is considerably larger than the female. He forages in flocks, feeding on large insects, small vertebrates, seeds, fruit and nectar. A colonial breeder, each colony contains a dominant male, who mates with most of the females. Nests are woven from fibres and vines, and hang from the branches like strange and unappetising fruit.