The male is striking in the typical oriole black and yellow plumage, but the female is a drabber green bird. Orioles are shy, and even the male is remarkably difficult to see in the dappled yellow and green leaves of the canopy. In flight they look somewhat like a thrush, strong and direct with some shallow dips over longer distances. The New World orioles are similar in appearance to the Oriolidae, but are icterids and unrelated to the Old World birds.[citation needed]

Its call is a harsh "kweeaahk", but the song is a fluting weela-wee-ooo or or-iii-ole, unmistakable once heard, often with subtle variations between each phrase. Despite being relatively small, the song, normally sung from the top of a tree, carries for a long distance across the landscape. Although these are its two most readily identified sounds, it does make a variety of other sounds.

The male of the Indian golden oriole (Oriolus kundoo) has the black eye-stripe extending behind the eye, has a longer and paler red bill and has more yellow in the plumage. @bdwildbird

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