The oriole invasion

My garden is currently experiencing a remarkable invasion of Baltimore Orioles. There is a smattering of Orchard Orioles as well, but mostly it's Baltimores. It started last Friday when I noticed the first one in the yard. After that, I filled my oriole feeder with nectar and put an orange half on it and hung it on a crape myrtle tree near my patio. Since then I've had a constant stream of the brilliant visitors.

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

Meanwhile, a pretty female waits her turn.

 These two males were almost able to share an orange.

 This female is hoping that male will leave some for her.

There is quite a bit of variation in the colors of the females. Some are quite brightly colored while others are duller.

 Patience pays off! She gets her turn at the orange.

 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. 

 Here is the classic pose - a brilliantly colored adult male.

And a female - just as attractive with her softer coloration.

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.

The orioles arrive

As I walked out my back door today, I was surprised to look up and see a Baltimore Oriole sipping from one of my hummingbird feeders! The bird flew away and I flew back inside to dig out my old oriole feeder.

I rinsed the feeder off and mixed up some nectar and filled it. I didn't have any grape jelly, which orioles are said to love, but I did have Mandarin oranges, another oriole treat, so I halved one of them and put it on the feeder.

Then I grabbed my camera and took it and the feeder outside. I took down the hummingbird feeder (which I hadn't seen visited by hummers for a while) and hung the oriole feeder in its place. I sat down to wait and watch, wondering if the bird would return.

As it turned out, he would and did and I was able to capture a series of images.

This appears to be a first year male. He is not as brightly colored as the fully matured males, but there's no doubt as to his identity.

Where there is one oriole during migration, there are usually others, but I didn't see any others today. However, I couldn't sit around all afternoon waiting for them to turn up. I had chores to do. If more do turn up, the table is now set for them. Maybe I'll even go get some grape jelly to sweeten the pot.