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Montezuma Oropendola's High-Security Nesting
These birds really go out on a limb!
A male Montezuma Oropendola holds forth in a tree bedecked with twenty or more hanging nests. The nests are intricately woven sacks hanging three feet or more from the branches. Oropendolas favor trees that are separate from other trees and often build near large nests of wasps, whose stinging attacks deter both potential nest predators and parasitic insects.
BirdNote®
Montezuma Oropendolas’ High-Security Nesting
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote!
[Montezuma Oropendola song, with firecracker notes]
Listen to this song! It's a male Montezuma Oropendola, displaying for a female, while he swings from a tree branch in a Central American forest. Today, he's holding forth in a tree bedecked with twenty or more oropendola nests. The nests are intricately woven sacks, hanging three feet or more from the branches.
[Montezuma Oropendola song, with firecracker notes]
Oropendolas are not just colonial nesters. They’re very choosy about the trees in which they nest. They prefer a tall tree, separate from other trees, to discourage troops of hungry monkeys that are wary of crossing open ground. The female oropendolas weave their nests near the tips of branches so slender that their limberness makes access difficult for nest-raiders. It takes about ten days to complete the nest.
[Wasp sounds]
Oropendolas also favor trees that bear large nests of wasps, whose stinging attacks deter both potential nest predators and parasitic insects. The male oropendola's connection to the colony is strong, and he'll sing throughout the nesting season. And what a song it is!
[Montezuma Oropendola song, with firecracker notes]
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
Support for BirdNote is provided by Jerry Tone and Martha Wyckoff from Seattle, Washington — and generous listeners around the world.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Call of the Montezuma Oropendola ML 89453 recorded by C. Duncan. BirdNote's theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and produced by John Kessler
© 2013 Tune In to Nature.org March 2013 / July 2025
Narrator: Michael Stein
ID# MOOR-02c-2013-3-23. MOOR-02c
Bob Sundstrom
Writer
Michael Stein
NarratorSights & Sounds
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