Black-backed Oriole

The black-backed oriole is 18 to 20.5 cm (7.1 to 8.1 in) long and weighs 31 to 37 g (1.1 to 1.3 oz). Adult males are black on the crown, sides of the head, nape, and upperparts. They have an orange line above the lores, thin orange crescents above and below the eye, and orange cheeks. Their upperwing is mostly black with wide white edges on the flight feathers. The wing's median and greater coverts are white and show as a large patch on the closed wing. Their tail's three outer pairs of feathers are yellow with black tips and the rest are black. They have a black chin that extends in a thin stripe down the throat. The rest of their throat and their underparts are orange-yellow. Their flanks and thighs are black. Adult females are olivaceous gray where males are black, including the wings and tail. Their throat is dull orange with a white middle stripe. Their breast is dull orange and their belly and flanks grayish white. Immature males are like adult females but have the adult's black lores and throat stripe and their underparts approach adults' brightness.

The black-backed oriole is found in central Mexico from Durango east to western Tamaulipas and south to Oaxaca. It breeds in a variety of somewhat open landscapes including open forest, clearings and edges of denser forest, gallery forest, and orchards and gardens. In the non-breeding season it also occurs in montane oak (Quercus), pine (Pinus), and fir (Abies) forest. In elevation it mostly ranges between 1,500 and 3,000 m (4,900 and 9,800 ft) but is found as high as 3,900 m (12,800 ft).

The black-backed oriole feeds on insects, spiders, fruit, and nectar. It is a significant predator on the toxic monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on their shared wintering grounds; it has evolved a tolerance to the butterfly's natural poison and in addition feeds mostly on its less toxic internal parts.