Baltimore Oriole
This week we have a much beloved bird – the Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) – especially if you’re a baseball fan living in Maryland. It’s a bird well-suited to woodland edges and open riparian woods, but it can also be found in urban parks and suburban landscapes. Its name was first coined by Mark Catesby in 1731 in his book, Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. The bird’s bright orange and black plumage reminded him of the colors of the Baltimores, colonial proprietors of the Maryland colony. Thus, he named it the “Baltimore Bird.”
A bird of the neo-tropics, the Baltimore Oriole breeds throughout most of the eastern U.S. and into the central Canadian plains. It winters in Florida, the Caribbean Islands, southern Mexico, Central America, and into the northern part of South America. Here on the Eastern Shore, it typically returns each spring around the third week of April. The Talbot Bird Club schedules a bird walk around that time geared toward seeing it, and it is often the “first of season” Baltimore Oriole sighting for the group.
What it looks like
A medium-sized colorful songbird with a rich song, the Baltimore Oriole is a welcome sight that spring has sprung. The adult male (pictured here) is striking, with black head and back, black wings streaked with white, all offset by its bright orange breast, belly, and rump. Its tail is black at the base, with black central and orange outer tail feathers. It has a long stout bill, perfectly designed for its varied diet (fruit, nectar, insects, and spiders). Adult females are similarly patterned but more subdued – blacks less black and a duller shade of orange. Still a beautiful bird in her own right.
This picture was taken on May 10, 2020, in our front yard. This male hung around our front yard for several weeks, singing to attract a mate and stake out territory. After those few weeks of sightings, I heard it singing but didn’t see it again. I’m hoping it found a suitable nesting sight, attracted a mate, built a nest, and will be back again next year. We’ll see. Birding is like baseball – there’s always next season.
The Baltimore Oriole song consists of relatively few notes, with a loud, clear, flutelike quality. Often a series of short notes and 2-note phrases, interrupted by various pauses. Click on the audio to hear some examples.
Breeding behavior
Males usually arrive at the breeding locations first, followed about a week later by females. They rapidly pair up and get on with the business of building a proper nest. While the male defines the territory, the female has the final say on the nest location.
Oriole nests are neatly woven baskets made of hair, twine or string, wool, synthetic fibers, and plant fibers such as grasses, milkweed stems, or grapevine bark. The basket hangs below the branch, supported by long fibers wrapped around and hanging down from the branch above it. The nest is commonly built near the tip of outer tree branches, but in windy areas it may be located closer to the trunk. Look high to find these nests – they may be 60 or more feet off the ground. The picture shown here is of an Orchard Oriole nest, similar to the Baltimore Oriole’s nest but more loosely woven.
What they eat
During breeding season, Baltimore Orioles depend on protein and primarily feed on insects and spiders. Later in the season, they change to ripe fruit and nectar. They are known to visit nectar feeders, eat jelly, or take nectar from an orange. A common way of attracting them is to cut an orange in half and nail it to a tree. I’ve put out nectar feeders specially designed for Orioles, supplemented with grape jelly and orange halves. And I have a perfect track record – so far I have failed to attract a single Oriole to the feeder. The squirrels appreciate my efforts, though.
Similar species
Orchard Oriole
The Orchard Oriole breeding range overlaps significantly with that of the Baltimore Oriole, although it doesn’t extend as far north and covers all of the southeast US and extends into central Mexico. The males are darker – males have a deep chestnut breast, belly and rump. Females are yellowish orange. The picture on the left shows an Orchard Oriole feeding young in a tree in the Adkins Arboretum parking lot in Ridgely, MD, taken on June 18, 2006.
Bullock’s Oriole
The Bullock’s Oriole breeds in open woodlands in the western U.S. into parts of Canada. It often interbreeds with Baltimore Oriole in the Great Plans where the ranges of the two species meet. The Bullock’s Oriole has a lot of orange-yellow on its head, as shown in the picture to the right checking out the wild grapes. This picture was taken in Ft. Collins, CO, on June 1, 2008.
That’s it for this week. Next week I’ll talk about the Spruce Grouse.
Or if you missed last week, read about the Mew Gull here.
I thought I have seen this in my yard. Is this the same type I’ve seen here in Kansas?
Yes — I almost always see it hanging around my sister Kathy’s yard when I come back for the family reunion.
The nest was unexpected. Very cool.