Another sign that summer is over beside school starting, is the disappearance of some birds, like the house wren and orioles. So there will be no splash of bright orange feathers on my porch until next year when the orioles come back in the spring and find my feeders again.
Orioles Gone
The trees this evening were filled with crying sounds. Baby orioles have left the nest and were hopping around in the branches waiting for their parents to bring them some food and most were not very patient or quiet. This young oriole is a bit fuzzy looking but most of the young birds looked about the size and coloring of the adult females already although only a few have come to the feeders as it is easier to let the parents bring the food to them.
Young Baltimore Oriole
Another sunny day brought several more returning birds to the area including hummingbirds and orioles. And I wasn’t ready for them so the oriole let me know his feeders weren’t hung up yet. But the male oriole didn’t leave and he found the feeder after a while so maybe he forgave my tardiness.
Baltimore Oriole Back
Another sign that winter’s return is on the horizon is the loss of more of the summer birds. The orioles have been absent for several days now, both the bright males and the young chicks making their first fight to either the Caribbean, Central America, or the northern tip of South America.
Young Oriole Set to Take Off
The young orioles are now as big as their parents but they still sometimes want to be fed instead of going to the feeders themselves. The feeders get a bit crowded when several families try to eat at the same time and this young one is perched on a branch while waiting for its place in line.
Waiting in Line
More birds are returning like the tree swallows and the grosbeaks. The orioles arrived on Monday, or at least the male Baltimore Orioles have. I am not sure why the males come first when it is the females that build the nest so it isn’t like he is getting the house ready. Instead he just complains when I am in the way and he can’t get to the sugar water or the jelly.
Oriole Getting a Drink
The other day, a baby grosbeak was screaming as it waited for its parents to bring some food to it, which they had to travel farther to get some as I forgot to fill the sunflower bird feeder. Today I was having trouble keeping the jelly and sugar water feeders filled for the orioles as they are now feeding their young too. This little oriole doesn’t look very cute yet, as it was just out of the nest, and hasn’t gotten rid of all its fuzzy feathers yet.
Baby Oriole Waiting for Food
With several nests of orioles, apparently most of the babies survived as there is a dozen or more young orioles lined up on the porch waiting, not always very patiently, for their turn at the feeders and I have trouble keeping them filled.
Young Oriole Eating
I don’t know what changed this year; whether more of the baby orioles survived or there is a better communication system pointing to the feed lunch but I am having trouble keeping the sugar water feeders and grape jelly can filled. The hummingbirds have to take a number as I have seen three orioles on the sugar water feeder at the same time and more than a half dozen lined up at the jelly, at least until the male Baltimore Oriole shows up. He scares the rest away so he can have it all to himself but the smaller Orchard Oriole male (the dark bird in the picture) has no trouble eating with the other females and youngsters.
Unlike many other fruit-eating birds, Baltimore Orioles seem to prefer only ripe, dark-colored fruit like the deepest-purple grapes and will ignore green grapes and yellow cherries even if they are ripe. I guess that is why they like the grape jelly over other types of jelly. The orioles forage for insects, drink nectar from flowers and eat berries. According to the All About Birds website, Orchard Orioles “sometimes visit hummingbird feeders or eat orange slices or jelly at feeding stations.” Well the sometimes seems to be a constant thing this year with the number of jars of jelly and bags of sugar I have gone through so far this season.
The Grub Line
Watch the video below to see the crowded grub line.
After a stormy weekend, I always wonder how the oriole nest manages to stay attached to the branches with extreme swaying and wonder how the poor eggs aren’t scrambled. But I suppose since the female spends a lot of time incubating the eggs and builds the nest, she doesn’t take shortcuts nor scrimp on the number of the fibers as it takes a week to build or longer if the weather is bad.
Female Baltimore Oriole in Her Nest
