kyanocitta's Identifications

Link to Woolly Milkweed that was hosting several species of beetles: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/217420119

Cobalt Milkweed Beetle (Chrysochus cobaltinus) is a shiny, blue-green flying insect in the Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidae) family.

BugGuide: https://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Chrysochus+cobaltinus

Cucujiform Beetles (Infraorder Cucujiformia). Cucujiformia is an infraorder of polyphagan beetles that represent most plant-eating beetles. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/372852-Cucujiformia

Taxonomic chart of Cucujiform Beetles. The infraorder contains seven superfamilies:

Chrysomeloidea (~7 families including longhorn beetles and LEAF BEETLES)
Cleroidea (checkered beetles, bark-gnawing beetles and soft-winged flower beetles)
Coccinelloidea (15 families, includes Lady Beetles and fungus beetles)
Cucujoidea (~27 families)
Curculionoidea (~8 families primarily consisting of weevils and also including snout beetles and bark beetles)
Lymexyloidea (ship-timber beetles)
Tenebrionoidea (formerly "Heteromera") (30 families including blister beetles and ant-like beetles)

Field Guide to California Insects, by Kip Will, J. Gross, D. Rubinoff , J. Powell, 2nd ed., 2020

BugGuide: Arthropods: Photos of Insects, Spiders & Their Kin (US & Canada), clickable categories or use search bar (scientific name): https://bugguide.net/node/view/3/bgpage

COMPARISON of 3 New World Orioles: Hooded, Bullock's, and Scott's. All are brightly colored, migratory birds in the Icteridae family that weave their invisible-from-below nests to the underside of dead palm fronds.

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The male Bullock’s Oriole has a much larger white patch in the wing than the male Hooded Oriole, and it has a black line extending behind the eye and black crown that the Hooded Orioles lack.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Oriole/species-compare

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COMPARED TO

Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus) is a migratory perching bird in the New World Blackbirds and Orioles (Icteridae) family. It is long and slender with a long and slightly decurved bill. Both sexes have white bars on black wings. Breeding males are more orange or orange-yellow than females. Males have a black bib, that appears oval when viewed from the front. They seem to enjoy visiting hummingbird feeders. They also enjoy the nectar of sliced oranges attached to feeders.
Hooded Orioles are sometimes called "Palm-leaf Orioles," because they "sew" their hanging nests onto the undersides of palm fronds. Orioles are usually seen in the vicinity of tall palm trees because they weave their nests behind the dead palm fronds. These nests are almost never visible from below. That’s why old palm fronds should never be cut down from the palm trees--to help preserve Oriole habitat.

Ebird with species description, range map and sound recordings: https://ebird.org/species/hooori/

Xeno-canto Bird songs, sound recordings, and species range map:
https://xeno-canto.org/species/Icterus-cucullatus

Audubon Guide to North American Birds https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/hooded-oriole

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 7th ed., 2017. pp. 540-541, 575.

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 2008, pp. 396-397.

Monterey Birds, Don Roberson, 2nd ed. 2002, sponsored by Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society. p. 458.

The Cornell Lab (Birds in U.S. and Canada) https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Oriole

Compare to Scott's Oriole (Icterus parisorum): https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/199062614

Merlin Bird ID (great app available for Iphones) by The Cornell Lab (Bird ID help for 8,500+ species) https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

Comprehensive Feather I.D. tools and more: https://foundfeathers.org/resources/

Found Feathers (Worldwide): https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/idtool.php

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COMPARED TO

The male Scott’s Oriole has a fully black head while the Hooded Oriole has a mostly yellow orange head with only a black throat patch. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Oriole/species-compare/40259851

TO BE CONT'D . . .