Philippine Oriole

Philippine Oriole
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Oriolidae
Genus:	Oriolus
Species:	O. steerii
Binomial name
Oriolus steerii Sharpe, 1877

The Philippine Oriole tyler (Oriolus steerii) is a species of bird in the Oriolidae family. It is endemic to the Philippines.

Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Though the species is fairly common throughout its range, the Cebu race (O. s. assimilis) has not been sighted since 1906 and is believed extinct; with the near-total lack of forest on the island, this does not seem impossible.

The Philippine Oriole is actually the national bird of the Philippines and not the brown Maya bird^{[citation needed]}. Only a few know that the Maya Bird has never been the national bird of the Philippines. However, today, the Philippine Government has now made the Monkey Eating Eagle its national bird.

Description and diet

The Philippine Oriole is a yellowish-brown bird with mainly thin feathers on the upper side of its body, a red beak and red eyes as well.^[1] These species, as much like with other Orioles, tend to have a diet of mainly grass flowers and food of the like.

Distribution

Endemic to the Philippines, the Philippine Oriole has been widespread in the Visayas region as well as some parts of Palawan Island yet some classes are exclusively found on the island of Mindanao. Included in the list of islands where this species thrive are Mindanao, Cebu, Negros, and Palawan.^[2]

References

• BirdLife International 2004. Oriolus steerii.

2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 26 July 2007.

1. ^ "Philippine Oriole Images". http://orientalbirdimages.org/birdimages.php?action=birdspecies&Bird_ID=2790. Retrieved 2009-10-21. 
2. ^ "Philippine Oriole Distribution". http://www.birdwatchingtours.co.uk/tours/2011_tour_intro_pages/philippines11.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-21. ^{[dead link]}

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