Return of Bird of the Week: Black Oropendola

Last week’s Brewer’s Blackbirdis a member of the family Icteridae. A more exotic member of that family is the Black Oropendola. This species has a fairly narrow range: northern Columbia and far eastern Panama. Like all of the oropendolas, it’s a weaver, building long, pendulous nests that hang is groups from a tree in the open, often in a meadow or at the edge of a field. This is a female working on a new nest. But what sets the Black Oropendola apart from its fellow species is the amazing facial coloration. The red and blue patches make this one…