Baltimore Oriole
Icterus galbula (Linnaeus, 1758) (1, 0)
Photo © By Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren - Baltimore Oriole, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37125453
STATUS
Nearctic. Monotypic.
OVERVIEW
This first for Britain was finally accepted in 2003 after being withheld over 100 years because it was believed to be an escape.
RECORD
1). 1890 Shetland Baltasound, Unst, immature male, caught alive, 26th September, died 28th September, now at Chelmsford Museum, Essex (BM. 43/a. D, 210).
(H. D. Lloyd, Field 15th Nov., 1890: 746; T. Edmondston, Field 22nd Nov., 1890: 816; J. E. Harting, Zoologist 1890: 457; Eds., Ibis 1891: 152; Eds., Scottish Naturalist 11: 43, 152; Evans & Buckley, 1899; W. B. Alexander & R. S. R. Fitter, British Birds 48: 13; E. V. Baxter, Scottish Naturalist 69: 38; Palmer, 2000; M. G. Pennington, Shetland Bird Report 2002: 99; BOURC (2003), Ibis 145: 178-183; Pennington et al., 2004; R. W. Forrester, Scottish Birds 25: 60).
History H. Dykes Lloyd (1890) in The Field of 15th November, p. 746, says: 'I shall be glad to know what the bird is that I send you. I believe it is one of the American starlings. It was caught alive in an exhausted condition on Sept. 20 at Baltasound, Unst, Shetland Isles, by Andrew Anderson, merchant, of that place, and immediately sent south by me for preservation to Mr. Dawes, naturalist, Denmark Hill, who has stuffed it. I may add that the fellow one to it was seen the same day at Haroldswick, some two miles distant. Many people saw it both alive and dead in Shetland.'
[The bird sent is the Baltimore Oriole (Icterus baltimore), apparently an immature female, probably escaped, being often imported as a cage bird].
Thomas Edmondston (1890) in The Field of 22nd Nov., Vol. LXXVI, p. 816, says: 'Sir, With due respect, I venture to differ from your opinion regarding the probability of the bird lately procured in Shetland being an escaped prisoner, for reasons which I will as briefly as possible state. Perhaps my intimate acquaintance with the place where the bird was captured, my native island of Unst, may be my excuse for troubling you with my observations on the subject.
The bird was caught in an exhausted condition, on Sept. 26, by Mr. Andrew Anderson, of Squanfield, Baltasound, in the island of Unst. A small plantation of shrubs around Mr. Anderson's house offers some attraction to wandering birds seeking shelter and refuge from the storm, an advantage which Mr. Anderson's garden shares with my late father Dr. Laurence Edmondston's home at Halligarth, little more than half a mile distant.
I may mention here that any statement of fact made by Mr. Anderson - an acquaintance and friend of thirty years' standing - I am prepared to vouch for as if it were my own. Mr. Anderson gave the bird, a few days after its capture, to my friend Mr. H. D. Lloyd, who happened to be in Unst at that time. It was then dead, and Mr. Lloyd failed to recognise it as any British bird known to him. He immediately sent it to London in the flesh for preservation, and by the same post he sent a detailed description, but I failed to recognise the species from the description given.
This, then, is the short history of the specimen from the time it was caught fluttering in the bushes at Squanfield until it was sent to you for identification by Mr. Lloyd. There is not, I think, room for any suggestion that Mr. Anderson, Mr. Lloyd, and I have conspired together to palm off a caged and captive bird as a storm-driven wanderer to the "melancholy Isles of farthest Thule".
If that be conceded, we have then to consider the chances of the bird having been imported by some bird fancier in the south, for there are certainly no importers in the Shetlands, and probably none north of Glasgow.
We must not forget that a few days after the capture at Baltasound, another bird of the same species was seen and described at Haroldswick, two miles distant, by Mr. James Sutherland, of the latter place, an intelligent and trustworthy observer.
If these two birds were formerly prisoners in or near our cities of Glasgow or Edinburgh, the escaped captives must have wandered northward a distance of 350 miles, at a season of the year when all their instincts would have cancelled a southward flight.
Baltasound, in the island of Unst, is in 60º 45' N. latitude, and between it and the mainland of Scotland lie many miles of tempestuous air. Add to this the fact, not before stated, that for two weeks previous to the capture of the ill-starred wanderer violent gales of west, W.S.W., and W.N.W., winds had raged all over the Shetland Islands and the North Atlantic Ocean.
Is it probable, or even possible, that, under such conditions, birds weakened by captivity could have made their way to the most northern island of the Shetland group from any point to the southward of that station?
I have only to add that the specimen in question, now under my observation while I write, shows no trace of whatever of captivity, recent or otherwise. Its plumage, pinions, and tail quills are not in the slightest degree damaged or frayed at the extremities, while its delicately pointed bill, long slender claws, and toes are uninjured, and absolutely perfect.
Upon the whole question, and considering - (1) The position and latitude of Unst, the place of capture; (2) The season of the year, end of September; (3) The direction, duration, and violence of the wind for two weeks previously; (4) Two birds having been observed, although only one was captured; (5) The condition and plumage of the specimen secured I think, with all deference, that the probabilities in favour of the birds being stray wanderers from their native coasts of N. America are infinitely greater than those which make in favour of the escaped cage-bird theory.
Had the place of capture been Regent's Park or Epping Forest, I am free to admit that the balance of probabilities would have been on the other side; but, even then, the condition of the plumage, quills, toes, and claws would be testimony hard to explain away.
I do not know whether the Baltimore Oriole has ever before been captured or seen in the wild state in any part of the British Isles. It is not included in any of the recent lists to which I have access, and, if it has not been already admitted to a place, I claim for it rank as a rare visitant on evidence at least as good as that which has given a like distinction to other occasional wanderers to our shores.'
[We are very glad to have this expression of opinion from the representative of a family of Shetland naturalists whose name is so familiar. He makes out a good case for the feathered immigrant, though he makes no allowance for the possibility that the bird might have reached Shetland some time before the occurrence of the gales to which he alludes, and may have had time to rest and recover its normal condition and appearance. - Ed.]
J. E. Harting, Editor (1890) in The Zoologist, 3rd series, Vol. XIV, p. 457, dated December 1890, says: 'Mr. H. Dykes Lloyd has recently forwarded for identification a specimen of the Baltimore Oriole, Icterus baltimore (Linn.), which was caught alive, in an exhausted condition, on the 26th of September last [1890], at Balta Sound, Shetland, by Mr. Andrew Anderson, a merchant of that place.
Mr. Lloyd, for whom this bird has been preserved, writes word that another of the same species was seen on the same day at Haroldswick, but was not obtained. This species is so frequently imported to England from New York as a cage bird that we may not unreasonably assume that the pair which found their way to Shetland may have made their escape on being landed at Liverpool.'
In an Editorial (1891) in the Scottish Naturalist, Vol. XI, p. 43, it adds: 'Mr. Harting, considers it an immature female.'
In an Editorial (1891) in The Ibis, Vol. XIII, p. 152, they say: 'A specimen of the "Baltimore Oriole" of North America (Icterus baltimore) is stated to have been "caught alive in an exhausted condition" at Balta Sound, Shetland, in September last. It is possible, however, that this may have been an escaped cage-bird. See Field, LXXXVI. p. 746, and Zoologist, 1890, p. 457.'
Not accepted locally as the record was placed in square brackets (Evans & Buckley 1899: 95).
W. B. Alexander & R. S. R. Fitter (1955) in British Birds, Vol. XLVIII, p.13, say: '...another presumed drift-migrant.'
Not admitted nationally (BOU 1971). Later, it was admitted nationally as the first for Britain (BOURC (2003) Ibis 145: 178-183).
Pennington et al. (2004) stated it to be a first-winter male, while, R. W. Forrester (2005) in Scottish Birds, Vol. XXV, p. 60, adds that the specimen is still in existence at Chelmsford Museum, Essex.
