A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Mystery bird - Oriole?

Hi - this guy flew in for a snack, never to be seen again (at least not yet!). I'm assuming it's a type of oriole, but I can't find him in my bird book. Sorry the picture is so fuzzy - I was so excited to see a new bird and didn't want to scare him away so I took the picture through my (screened) window.

Yes, that is an Oriole; a Northern or Baltimore Oriole to be exact! I don't get to see them much here but it is a real treat to see one. The last one I saw was about 8 years ago.

OH! They like to eat fruit. Orange halfs are a favorite of theirs. I understand they like grape jelly, too.

And they like nectar. Sometimes they're seen on hummingbird feeders. There are also commercially made oriole feeders for nectar. Larger opening for their bills.

Ah - thanks to both of you! I have seen the oriole feeders, so might as well get one of those too, and put out some fruit. Hopefully it will be back. Life bird!!

Do you have tall deciduous trees near you? They nest up high. You can put out snippets of string and yarn and they may take them to use in the nest. i put nesting material out in a clean suet cage. It doesnt usually get emptied but they do use it.

I have an empty suet cage full of nesting material by my front porch right now. The cage is within 100 feet of3 50 foot tall oak trees. NO ORIOLES!

Yes - we have lots of oaks, maple and cherry. My husband saw him again yesteray - yeah!

so pretty!

I'd love to have some orioles around here...my neighbor told me that years ago you'd see them quite frequently.....

Cool pic!

Put out some Orange halves, Loz.

I have a lovely picture of Oriols eating an orange on my deck. How do I post that picture here ?

Shadylady do you have an online photo album such as http://photobucket.com/ or webshots? Photobucket id free and once your image is in there you just copy the [IMG] line under it and post it here.

I'll have to put out more oranges - he didn't try the first ones we put out. I'm afraid all the grackles and starlings have scared away nearly everybody else. We've separated the hummingbird and thistle feeder from the regular feeder, but we really don't see as many unusual birds now that the big guys have taken over the territory. Sigh.

thanks for your advice re photobucket but I think I'll give up on that. It took the pictures ages to load and then gave me an "error on the page" message. Probably by now everyone has Oriols back in their gardens anyway. I know I look foreword to their return every year!

We had some orioles come to our yard last year and now they are back this year. They do like oranges but it seems like they like the grape jelly we put on top of the orange halves more.

We also got an oriole feeder--as someone was saying, it's like a hummingbird feeder but a bit bigger perch and larger openings for them to eat out of. We use a 1 to 6 sugar water mixture, too, instead of the 1 to 4 we use for the hummers.

Right now we have two males and one female that we've seen. Last year they built their nest in a giant cottonwood in our neighbor's yard and we're hoping they nest there again this year.

I had never heard of putting out yarn for use by birdies in their nests, but now that I read to do that here, I am thinking of leaving early so I can rush home from work and put out some yarn!!

Also try the hair you clean out of your hairbrush and lint from the clothes dryer. I put all of this in an old suet cage and hang it near my feeders. The birds don't use a lot of it, but they do take some.

I've read conflicting articles on the dryer lint. Some say ok, others say it wont dry out well and packs down which is prime breeding habitat for mites.
Pet hair from brushing is good too.
Dont make the yarn or string too long, about 4-6" is best.
My mrs. orioles have been taking the grass I've weeded out of the garden thats drying up on top of the compost for her nest.

Orange halves attract them but they actually love grape jelly the best. I have a pair that hang around all summer (even in a new subdivision without many trees). They first were attracted to my hummingbird feeders. I made a quick feeder that allowed for two orange halves on two outer walls and grape jelly in old single size applesauce dishes placed in holes on the inside with just a basic roof. They will completely ignore the orange slices (but the house finches or purple finches love them) and will eat mouthfulls of the jelly. They aren't picky either. Cheap generic jelly works fine. They are relatively shy at first. It took them a good part of the summer before they would come around when I was outside.

I just saw 2 Orioles feeding from my Hummingbird Feeder. I put out the orange slices, but they still went to the Hummer feeder.
Thanks for the info on what to feed them.
I will definitely look for an Oriole feeder.
I had never seen one before yesterday and they are absolutely GORGEOUS!

Orioles are beautiful birds. We have more of the Orchard Orioles than we do the Baltimore Orioles here in Tennessee. It has been eight years since I have seen a Baltimore Oriole, but I saw and photographed an Orchard Oriole just last year.