We love it when the orioles return in the spring. Their vibrant orange makes them noticeable high up in the pine trees. The Northern orioles have two very closely related species … the Baltimore oriole and the Bullock’s oriole. The Baltimore oriole, which we see the most of, has a black hood or all black head while the Bullock’s oriole has orange cheeks. Orioles belong to the blackbird family.
As with most birds the male is the brightly coloured one and the female has more dull colours.
We have an oriole feeder but use the same food we use for the hummingbirds, which is 1 part sugar to 4 parts water. You do not need to add any colouring to the food.
Here the male and female oriole are at the same feeder … but wait they seem to prefer the hummingbird feeder. These are solitary birds outside of the mating season.
Another favourite food of these birds is oranges and I frequently add some slices onto hook by the feeder or fill up one of the suet baskets with slices.
They will visit a variety of feeders, one designed for hummingbirds, one for orioles and one for peanuts.
They also forage in trees and shrubs for insects and berries.
This oriole is sampling the catkins on the birch tree.
We will look forward to seeing the young orioles at the feeders before they leave the garden. This photo was taken in 2019.
Orioles love fruit. This photo from last year shows a young one eating the honeysuckle berries. The young orioles don’t get that lovely bright orange colour till their second year.
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Linda
Oh wow what beautiful birds, I would love to see something like that in my garden. Have a lovely weekend. x
Crafty Gardener
They are gorgeous to see and have a very distinctive call. Enjoy the weekend.
Veronica Lee
Love the photos! I’ve never seen orioles in my corner of the world.
Happy Thursday!
Crafty Gardener
Thanks for visiting. The orioles are gorgeous visitors to the garden. Enjoy the weekend.
EileeninMD
Hello,
What a great post and photos on the Orioles. They are beautiful birds, I am always happy to see them when I can! You are lucky they come to your yard, here to are just occasional visitors. They are the Maryland state bird. Great collection of photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy weekend! Take care and stay safe! PS, thank you for the visit and comment on my blog!
Crafty Gardener
Hi Eileen, yes we are very lucky to have the orioles visit the garden, along with many other birds. Enjoy the weekend.
Myrtle
Thank you Linda for all the knowledge on the Oriels, I love these cute birds. I enjoyed all the photos as always. Another day of learning something new, now just to retain it,haha. Enjoy the long weekend, we have sunshine today then back to rain for two days.
Crafty Gardener
Mixed weather here today, sunny then overcast. Stopped by to have a social distance visit with my friend today as it is her birthday. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Lavender Dreams
They are so colorful! And how nice to know how to attract them too! Enjoy your weekend!
Crafty Gardener
Hope you are having a lovely weekend too Dianne. Here it is a long weekend, but for us retired folk every weekend is a long weekend.
Karen, Pixel Posts
They are such pretty birds. We have some in our yeard. Lovely pfotos.
Crafty Gardener
thanks for the visit Karen, I’m so glad we have so many feathered visitors to the garden, makes each day a whole lot nicer.
Adam Jones
I love seeing the Orioles on the blogs that I visit, and there are many around at the moment. So nice to see.
Crafty Gardener
Orioles are just returning to our area, hope you get to see some soon. Thanks for the visit Adam.
Vondean Erickson
Hi Linda,
Such a lovely blog. I have not seen any Orioles here but did back home in Iowa. My one neighbor lady fed the birds like they were her children. Then they would come over to my tree by my porch to rest and then take off. I love to see them.
It will be a warm day today but that is ok. We could use some rain. My son brought my groceries to me yesterday and put in some beautiful strawberries. He said they were having a sale on them. I will enjoy them I am sure.
Try to keep busy but some days set and read.
I got some bad news last night one of my friends back home has the virus. Her son had to put her in assisted living because of her dementia and he is the caregiver and works out of his home. Where she is there is so much in the building.
Take care and enjoy the weekend.
Vondean
betty - NZ
What fascinating and stunning birds! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one, even when I lived in the States. Thanks for the photos and information on these interesting creatures.
Your corner is beautiful this week! Thanks for sharing it at the ‘My Corner of the World’ link up.
Jean
Gorgeous photos of my favorite birds! I’ve never seen a female one, only the male and usually only in passing so I really enjoyed your post. Hope you have a fantastic weekend!
Anu
Hello. Beautiful birds. Stay safe.
Liz Needle
What gaudy fellows the boys are. Makes me feel sympathy for the drab little females, but they probably are the boss birds in reality – just like humans!!
Anni
Oh my gosh, these images are stunning!
As always, I thank you for taking time out in your day to show off your birds with us at I’d Rather B Birdin this week.
Betty Crow
Love these birds! You sure managed some beautiful pics. And thank you for identifying a bird I took a pic of a couple of days ago. It is a terrible shot, but I saved it in the hopes of finding out what kind of bird it was. It is exactly like your last shot! So, I do have orioles here. Thanks!
Joy
Linda these are amazing pictures and it never ceases to astound me how truly colourful they are !
I didn’t know they would consume the same food as the humming birds .. I love to learn something new everyday like this.
I also didn’t know there were two kinds of oriels .. so another new tidbit … thanks !
You had to be so quick to catch these pictures I bet .. by the time I grab my camera, what ever it was I was trying to catch .. left the building ? LOL
Michelle Nature Notes
When I hear them is when I put out my orange half which is eaten out in a day or so. I just put it in a bird feeder hook and the red-bellied woodpeckers love it too. Beautiful photos…Michelle
Monika Ohson | TravelerInme
O for ooooooooooohh I love the orioles. Their color enchants me. Awesome capture & sighting 🙂
Lucy Corrander
Such brilliant colouring. I wonder why it is that in Europe we have so few brightly coloured birds compared with other places.
Kenneth C Schneider
Such bright and beautiful backyard birds!
Margie
I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t know that orioles were orange. I always enjoy learning about birds on your blog!