| Sighting Ref : | IB57478 |
| Sighting Date : | 29 May 13 |
| Common Name : | Baltimore Oriole |
| Scientific Name : | Icterus galbula |
| Location : | Maynooth |
| County : | Kildare |
| Number Seen : | 1 |
| Principal Observer(s) : | Sparky Booker Not Specified |
| Reported By : | Not Specified |
| Comments : | I saw a bird yesterday (26th), feeding in the low branches of a large tree in a parkland on the university of Maynooth campus. It was an vibrant orange-y yellow, had striking white wing bars on mostly black wings and may have had a black mask around the eyes. It had a slim, almost needle-like beak and was perhaps the size of a starling, but with a slimmer body and longer tail. It had a crouched posture as it moved along the branches. My view of the bird was excellent, as it was only about ten feet away in branches about eight or nine feet from the ground. I watched for about five minutes before it flew away. I have lived in Ireland for 10 years and never seen any bird like it, and can't find anything that looks like it in any of my books. I am from the US, and have seen baltimore orioles there several times, but know they are very rare in Ireland. Do you know if there have been sightings of orioles in Ireland recently? I am reluctant to think of it as an oriole, just because it seems that happening along a rarity while not even looking for it is unlikely, but I can't find anything more common that has even vaguely similar size/body shape/behaviour/posture, and having seen orioles before, it really did look like one. |
| Status : | See IRBC Appendix 1 |
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