The Golden Oriole or European (or Eurasian) Golden Oriole Oriolus oriolus is the only member of the oriole family of passerine birds breeding in northern hemisphere temperate regions. It is a summer migrant in Europe and western Asia and spends the winter season in the tropics.
Golden Oriole inhabit tall deciduous trees in woodland, orchards or parks and spend much of their time in tree canopies. They feed on insects and fruit. They build neat nests in tree forks and lay 3-6 eggs.
The male is striking in the typical oriole black and yellow plumage, but the female is a drabber green bird. Orioles are shy, and even the male is remarkably difficult to see in the dappled yellow and green leaves of the canopy.
In flight they look somewhat like a thrush, strong and direct with some shallow dips over longer distances.
Their call is a screech like a jay, but the song is a beautiful fluting weela-wee-ooo or or-iii-ole, unmistakable once heard. Listen to an oriole singing
The name "oriole" was first used in the 18th century and is an adaptation of the scientific Latin genus name, which is derived from the Classical Latin "aureolus" meaning golden. Various forms of "oriole" have existed in Roman languages since the 12th and 13th centuries. Albertus Magnus used the Latin form oriolus in about 1250 and erroneously stated that it was onomatopoeic because of the Golden Oriole's song.
The New World orioles are similar in appearance to the Oriolidae, but are icterids unrelated to the Old World birds.