Pic of the Day: The yellow-tailed oropendola

Start your week as we did: By listening to the unique call of the Montezuma oropendola, a bird endemic to southern Mexico and parts of Central America.

You’ll likely hear the oropendola before you see it. The bird’s bubbling and gurgling mating song is unmistakable. Listen for yourself:

The common name “oropendola” comes from the bird’s bright-yellow tail, which swings like a golden pendulum during the mating call.

A Montezuma oropendola bowing during a mating display. Alejandro Zúñiga / The Tico Times