About Icterus icterus jamacaii (Gmelin, 1788)
Venezuelan troupials are fairly large-sized birds with a long tail and a bulky bill. They have a black head and upper breast. The feathers on the front of the neck and upper breast stick outward, creating an uneven boundary between the black plumage and the orange plumage of the bird's lower breast and underside. The rest of their orange coloration is located on the upper and lower back, separated by their black shoulders. Their wings are mostly black, except for a white streak that runs the full length of the wing when the wing is in a closed position. They have yellow eyes, and each eye is surrounded by a patch of bright, blue, naked skin. Venezuelan troupials inhabit dry areas including woodlands, gallery forest, dry scrub, plains, and open savanna. In these habitats, they mainly forage for fruits of the giant cactus, which make up their entire diet while the cactus fruits are in season. They also consume other fruits, such as mangoes, sapodillas, papaya, soursop, dates and malpighia cherries. They have also been recorded eating juvenile birds and unhatched eggs from the nests they attack.
