Baltimore Oriole Gallery
Icterus galbula
eBird gives this description for the Baltimore Oriole: Males are stunning, orange with black head. Females vary from yellowish to bright orange below with grayish head. Blue-gray bill is sharply pointed. Often found high in deciduous trees in open woodlands, forest edges, orchards, riversides, parks, and backyards. Rich, whistling song, echoes from treetops. Phrases vary, but rich quality of whistled notes is always the same. Visits feeders with nectar and fruits. Sometimes hybridizes with Bullock’s Oriole. All About Birds gives this additional descriptive information about the Baltimore Oriole: The rich, whistling song of the Baltimore Oriole, echoing from treetops near homes and parks, is a sweet herald of spring in eastern North America. Look way up to find these singers: the male’s brilliant orange plumage blazes from high branches like a torch. Nearby, you might spot the female weaving her remarkable hanging nest from slender fibers. Fond of fruit and nectar as well as insects, Baltimore Orioles are easily lured to backyard feeders.
I watched my first Baltimore Oriole on the afternoon of Tuesday, September 22, 2020 in my backyard at Lake McQueeney. About 2:30 that afternoon, I noticed a brightly colored bird at MBY feeder. I grabbed my camera and, through the window glass, took three pictures that were good enough for me to see that the bird was a Baltimore Oriole. As soon as I slowly and quietly opened the door to my back porch, the bird flew. About 20 minutes later I saw him again at my water feature and took three pics through the glass. Again, he left as soon as I opened my back door. I decided to set up on my back deck and, after about 30 minutes was rewarded as the Baltimore Oriole returned. I had put out half and orange with some grape jelly on it, hoping to lure him in once again. He carefully scoped things out from nearby trees and finally made a quick trip to get some jelly. I was blessed to be able to get some better photos on this visit.
“Cool Facts” about the Baltimore Oriole from All About Birds…
- Unlike robins and many other fruit-eating birds, Baltimore Orioles seem to prefer only ripe, dark-colored fruit. Orioles seek out the darkest mulberries, the reddest cherries, and the deepest-purple grapes, and will ignore green grapes and yellow cherries even if they are ripe.
- The Baltimore Oriole hybridizes extensively with the Bullock’s Oriole where their ranges overlap in the Great Plains. The two species were considered the same for a while and called the Northern Oriole, but in the 1990s, after genetic studies, they were separated again.
- Young male Baltimore Orioles do not molt into bright-orange adult plumage until the fall of their second year. Still, a few first-year males in drab, female-like plumage succeed in attracting a mate and raising young. Females become deeper orange with every molt; some older females are almost as bright orange as males.
- The orioles of the Americas were named after similar-looking birds in the Old World, but the two groups are not closely related. Orioles of the Old World are in the family Oriolidae, whereas American orioles are in the same family as blackbirds and meadowlarks. Both New and Old World orioles are brightly colored with red, yellow, and black; have long tails and long pointed bills; build hanging, woven nests; and prefer tall trees around open areas.
- Baltimore Orioles got their name from their bold orange-and-black plumage: they sport the same colors as the heraldic crest of England’s Baltimore family (who also gave their name to Maryland’s largest city).
- Baltimore Orioles sometimes use their slender beaks to feed in an unusual way, called “gaping”: they stab the closed bill into soft fruits, then open their mouths to cut a juicy swath from which they drink with their brushy-tipped tongues.
- The oldest recorded Baltimore Oriole was over 12 years old when it was caught and killed by a raptor in Minnesota.