What is Icterid?
{{Automatic taxobox | name = Icterids | image = Bullock's Oriole.jpg | image_caption = Adult male [[Bullock's oriole]] | taxon = Icteridae | authority = [[Nicholas Aylward Vigors|Vigors]], 1825 }} The '''Icteridae''' are a [[family (biology)|family]] of small to medium-sized [[New World]] [[songbirds]].<ref>Lowther P. 1975. Geographic and Ecological Variation in the Family Icteridae ''Wilson Bulletin'' '''87''' (4): 481-495</ref><ref>Parkes, Kenneth C. 1991 in Forshaw, Joseph (ed), ''Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds''. London: Merehurst Press, pp. 214–215. ISBN 1-85391-186-0</ref> They are usually brightly colored. Most species have black as a main [[plumage]] color, often enlivened by yellow, orange or red. The family is extremely varied in size, shape, behavior and coloration. This group includes the '''New World blackbirds''', [[New World oriole]]s, the [[bobolink]], [[meadowlark]]s, [[grackle]]s, [[cowbird]]s, [[oropendola]]s and [[cacique (bird)|cacique]]s. They are only distantly related to the Old World [[common blackbird]] (which is a [[Turdidae|thrush]]) or the [[Old World oriole]]s. Icterids are unusual in songbirds because they have considerable [[sexual dimorphism]]. For example, the male [[great-tailed grackle]] is 60% heavier than the female. The smallest icterid species is the [[orchard oriole]], in which the female averages 15&nbsp;cm in length (6&nbsp;in) and {{convert|18|g|lb|abbr=off}} in weight, while the largest is the [[Amazonian oropendola]], the male of which measures {{convert|52|cm|in|abbr=on}} and weighs about {{convert|550|g|lb|abbr=off}}. This variation in size is greater than usual in [[passerine]] families. One unusual [[adaptation]] shared by the icterids is gaping, where the skull allows them to open their [[beak|bills]] strongly rather than passively. This lets them force open gaps to get at hidden food. == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Icteridae| ]] {{-}}