New study suggests there are at least 10 times as many Bahama Orioles as believed This Bahama Oriole is perched in a pine tree on Andros Island in the Bahamas. March 10, 2021 On a low-lying island in the Caribbean, the future of the critically endangered Bahama Oriole just got a shade brighter. A U.S. National Science Foundation-funded study led by researchers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County estimates the population of these striking black and yellow birds at somewhere between 1,300 and 2,800 individuals in the surveyed region, suggesting that the overall population is likely several thousand. Older studies estimated the entire population at fewer than 300, so the new results indicate there are at least 10 times as many Bahama Orioles as previously understood. The research appeared in