My next door neighbor has hung her oriole feeder as well and, between our two yards, it is common to see a dozen or more of the brightly colored birds at once. I find this quite amazing since I've never had more than one or two orioles at a time on migration in the past. Whatever confluence of events has worked to bring these visitors my way this spring, I am enjoying them tremendously and when I think of this season it will be as the "Time of the Orioles."
It's not uncommon to see several birds waiting for a turn at the feeders. There were a couple more in the tree in addition to the three that you see here.
Sometimes they don't wait very patiently. When they squabble, their voices sound much like their cousins, the Red-winged Blackbirds, but when they sing, their melodic phrases sound more robin-like.
This was the victor in one squabble
These two males were almost able to share an orange.
There is quite a bit of variation in the colors of the females. Some are quite brightly colored while others are duller.
There is a lot of variation in color among the males as well. Some of the younger males that I've shown you previously, like the first one I saw Friday, are less brilliantly colored. Even older males like these two can appear different - as you see, the bottom bird is quite yellow, while the top bird is bright orange.
I noticed the orioles visiting my hummingbird feeders as well, so I removed the bee guards from one of them to make access to the nectar a little easier for the birds. Of course, these feeders are not built to accommodate birds as large as orioles, but this female has perfected her technique for feeding from them.
I don't know how long this invasion will last, but I'm prepared to provide fresh oranges and nectar for as long as it does.
Great photos! Enjoy Oriole week!
ReplyDeleteI certainly am, VV!
DeleteYou are so lucky! We have had nectar feeders and oranges out for weeks and haven't attracted a single oriole.
ReplyDeleteWe certainly are lucky! I think we just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I've never attracted this number of the beautiful birds in any spring.
ReplyDelete