Orioles (Oriolidae)

Eurasian Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus) - HBW 13, p. 722

French: Loriot d’Europe German: Pirol Spanish: Oropéndola Europea
Other common names: (European) Golden Oriole

Taxonomy: Coracias oriolus Linnaeus, 1758, “in Europe and Asia” = Sweden.
Closely related to O. kundoo and O. auratus, and until recently considered to be conspecific with former; all three form a superspecies, perhaps also including O. tenuirostris and O. chinensis as members. Two proposed geographical races, caucasicus (from Gilan, in N Iran) and sibiricus (from Osnatschennaja, in Krasnoyarsk District of SC Siberia), considered inseparable from birds in rest of species’ range. Monotypic.

Distribution: Breeds in W, C & S Europe (S from S Finland) and N Africa E to Altai Mts (S Siberia and extreme NW China) and, in S, to N Iran; non-breeding in sub-Saharan Africa.