Baltimore Oriole

A female Baltimore Oriole looks to have struck the mother load of nesting material... a cassette tape. It would appear to be a good nesting material for the unique pouch-shaped nest... long and strong. However, it could entangle her in the process.

In that case, it's unlikely the male Baltimore Oriole could be of any help to her. Orioles, as other bird species, know only natural nest building materials...not audio tape.

There is no reason to think she met a bad ending with this material, but strange outcomes can happen.

Last summer I saw a female Baltimore Oriole weaving her nest with discarded fishing line. She was having difficulty threading long lengths of line and got entangled in the process.

She eventually won this battle and built a strong nest with it.

(Click any picture to enlarge)

Be grateful if you get Baltimore Orioles or any orioles for that matter. They are beautiful to see and melodious to hear.

They will visit your feeder for orange halves, but are particularly fond of grape jelly.

There is little harm in feeding the birds, but they don't need yarn, string or plastic. Let them find their own 'natural' nest building material.

The Baltimore Orioles are in Wisconsin for a short time now... enjoy them.

Watch for Orchard Orioles at the same time. They'll all start to leave in July.

In other parts of the US look for:
Hooded Oriole
Altamira Oriole
Spot-breasted Oriole
Audubon's Oriole
Scott's Oriole
Black-vented Oriole
Streak-backed Oriole
Bullock's Oriole

Allan

Credit: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds

Baltimore Oriole (nest building)

Some birds go to elaborate extents to make a secure nests for their next generation. The Baltimore Oriole is one of those birds.

The tear drop shape is easily recognized as a Baltimore Oriole's nest in America, although other birds worldwide build woven hanging nest.

It's bewildering how this bird visualizes the process to begin with and possesses the dexterity to build this structure.

It surely starts somewhere deep in the bird's mind that straws and grasses are needed. The material must be strong, but of a manageable length.

Wrapping and securing long fibers starts construction. Using only her bill, she weaves and shapes the nest into a pouch.

It takes hundreds of fiber searching sorties for just the right properties of flexibility and strength.

Springy materials expand the pouch near the bottom of the nest to give the female space to incubate eggs.

The male Baltimore Oriole occasionally brings construction material to the nest, but his main focus is protecting the territory from threats.

The search for just the right nesting material is a week-long effort with countless back and forth trips.

There is a reason all this activity takes place in the spring... insects.

Food is plentiful or at least adequate at this time of year. High protein insects fill the air, providing a continuous buffet for the young growing chicks.

Just a few more trips are needed to complete this nest. Already plump and pendulous, a final touch will make it perfect.

(Click any  picture to enlarge.)

Soft cottony fibers are provided by the new spring trees. Collected with care and arranged at the bottom of the nest, the female will rest there comfortably secure for
11-14 days... expecting baby Baltimores soon!

Allan

Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley's Guide to Birds

Orchard Oriole

You can't choose which birds you'll see on any given day. It's not up to you.

But if you have an option on an Orchard Oriole, don't pass it up.

These are beautiful birds.

Orchard Orioles are a rare treat. They are not here in Wisconsin for that long.

The Baltimore Orioles are more common and colorful, but the Orchard Oriole still shines in shades of satin black and burnished russet.

The female Orchard Oriole is a standout beauty bird, too.

They mainly eat insects so there is little you can do to entice them to your locale. Still, in fall when the insects disappear, mulberries and chokecherries will attract them.

You might get an Orchard Oriole at your hummingbird feed, whether you like it or not. They have a real 'sweet tooth'. 

They are not social birds, yet rather  agreeable to sharing territory with other birds at nesting time.

Being smaller than the others orioles they may have adapted to being congenial, not so much by choice... rather by necessity.

Look and listen for them singing in the treetops.

There are many smartphone apps you can download for free, so you'll recognize their song when you hear it.

You don't have much time though. Orchard Orioles are one of the first birds to leave in summer. They will be back in Central America all too soon for the winter.

Allan
Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley's Guide to Birds

Baltimore Oriole

                  A female Baltimore Oriole darts across the sky in search of special nesting material.

                      There's no counting the number of trips she's made to make her nest just right.

She has been working for maybe a week now.

First, the support strands were woven with stringlike material such as vine, grasses and even fishing line. Next, fibers like wool and horsehair gave it the typical oriole pouch-like shape.

It's now time to add a soft lining of plant material, feathers, and even manmade materials such as cellophane.

The male Baltimore Oriole will occasionally supply building materials to her, but she alone does all the construction work.

The male's job is protection of the home territory, which, surprisingly, is quite small compared to other birds.

Protection and providing food to the nestlings are his main functions.

That, and looking pretty.

The nest dangles at a hard to reach branch end for safety from ferrel cats and natural predators.

It's important to be comfortable for two weeks of sitting on 3-7 eggs.

Spring is a busy season and her only opportunity to raise a clutch this year. So her work continues relentlessly. Trip after trip she gathers tiny additions of featherweight material.





With luck, there will be more baby Baltimore Orioles in 2017.



Allan
Credit: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds

Spring Migration 2016

A rainbow of colorful birds is filling our skies again this spring.

The annual migration of birds traveling through Wisconsin is underway.

A female Baltimore Oriole struggles to untangle a luckless fisherman's line.

Doggedly determined she twists and tugs at the unyielding strand for nesting material.

Countless colorful birds are arriving daily feasting on buds, blossoms and insects.

The Yellow-rumped Warbler is a common and colorful candidate for your first woodland outing.

Approachable within reason, binoculars provide a tool for close-up views of this distinctive summer visitor.

The Eastern Bluebirds are back. Granted, never really far from Wisconsin to begin with, still the returning bluebirds are a welcoming signal of a pending summer. Nest boxes, either homemade or purchased, are a good way of attracting bluebirds into view at your window.

Our female Baltimore Oriole seems to be tangled up in her work. Inorganic material like monofilament fishing line is an attractive building material for nesting birds, although it presents dangers not found in organics. She seemed quite resolved to secure this prized tidbit and works to near exhaustion freeing it from a tangle of branches.

Colorless in the customary sense, the
Black-and-White Warbler
is impressive nonetheless.

Distinctively fashioned to blend into the darker recesses of an old growth forest, the Black-and-White Warbler is normally found at eye level or below.

His tree trunk travels are perpetual searches for ants, spiders, wood-borers and insect larvae .

Another bird of note is the House Wren.

Fairly muted in color to be sure, you may hear this melodic, but scolding wren prompting you to keep moving through his territory.

You may find yourself staring eye-to-eye if you get too close to the House Wren.

He's unlikely to back down on his claim and may insist you leave first.

If asked, it is preferable you move back a few steps and watch him with binoculars.

The Indigo Bunting is another welcome sight in the woods. Look for him searching for food on the field/forest edge. At this time of the year they dine on newly emerging buds...in summer it's insects.

A year round Wisconsin resident the male American Goldfinch is a stand-out...ready for the spring mating season. If you feed the birds in winter you've noticed this bird's colorful transition.

But don't expect baby American Goldfinches any time soon. American Goldfinches time their breeding to coincide with milkweed and thistle seeds maturing. Seeds sustain this truly vegetarian bird.

Even though the American Goldfinch falls victim to the parasitic habits of the
Brown-headed Cowbird (cowbirds lay an egg in other bird's nests for the host bird to feed) the cowbird chicks cannot survive on an
all-seed diet.  

You may also find a Chestnut-sided Warbler searching the underside of leaves for insects.

At last our female Baltimore Oriole seem to be winning her battle with the fishing line. Somehow she has cut the line into manageable lengths and is using it to build her highly recognizable pouch-shaped nest.

She has chosen an outer branch high over the Milwaukee River for the privacy a
leafed-out tree will afford.

She feels confident enough already to dive into this flimsy pouch for more weaving and shaping to her precise body measurements...the beginnings of a new home for her 2016 brood.
Allan
Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds, 
The Sibley Guide to Birds, second edition

Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve

A Baltimore Oriole pries open a blossom to see what's crawling inside.  The sun is rising over the Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve on this last day of May 2014. Hundreds of birds are darting about searching for food…breakfast if you like. 

Hopping from branch to branch, hungry birds look for the lucky blossom that contains the worm.  

No one is keeping a tally of  which blossoms are visited, so each bird inspects every blossom in turn...an ongoing scramble of activity. These inspections are repeated thousands of times over millions of blossoms covering the seventy-three acre nature preserve. It's natural theater.

This worm show goes on every morning about this same time.

A Cedar Waxwing is working a tree nearby.  The Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve is located in the Town of Grafton. Sited along the Lake Michigan shoreline, it’s especially busy at this time of year.  

Multiple species of birds are traveling to their summer nesting grounds. Some birds will stay and make Lion's Den their home, but most use it as a stopover on their annual spring migration elsewhere.

Birds are most active and approachable in the morning. If you want to see birds up close, you will have to get up early.

Some people come to walk the sandy beach or the bluff overlooking the lake, others come to walk their dogs. Dogs on leashes are welcome. 

It is a quiet, peaceful place at sunrise.

I appreciate the long daylight hours of May, when it’s only the birds and me.

With newly budding trees, the birds stand out against a slowly brightening sky.

If you don’t see birds, listen for them. 

The Red-eyed Vireo is a dependable singer.  It makes no difference if it’s morning or evening, the Red-eyed Vireo will let you know where he is, if you follow his song.

The Red-eyed Vireo is a small stocky songbird with an olive green back, white belly and white eyebrow. He likes the midlevel branches when searching for food. He sings while gleaning leaves for caterpillars.  

He’s not particularly colorful or ‘drop dead’ gorgeous, but he has a nice song and beautiful dark red eyes.

His red eye shows you he is watching you, so move slowly and wear muted woodland colors.  Whites and bright colors startle birds and will lessen your chances of getting a good up-close view. 

The Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve is adjacent  to the USFWS Wildlife Production Area to the north. Lake Michigan forms the eastern boundary. 

You may find a Green Heron patrolling these waters.   Green Herons eat aquatic life, so look for one at the edge of the pond.     

Along with the Baltimore Oriole you may find an Orchard Oriole in the lowlands surrounding a pond.

The Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve may be the stopping point in this Orchard Oriole’s migration.  Wisconsin is near the top of the Orchard Oriole range.  

They won’t be here for long though. They will be traveling back to Central America for the winter by mid-July. 

This Orchard Oriole calmly rested as I watched him. It was hard to tell if he just arrived, just ate or was just worn out after a long flight. If he searched for caterpillars this morning, I didn’t see him do it. He was happy where he was and felt no need to fly away. He sat quietly for a long time just soaking up the morning sunshine. 

(Click any picture to enlarge)

This Yellow Warbler, singing at the rising sun, offers a double treat.

His sweet song combined with his bouncy antics accounts for two of the many joys of nature. 

As he sings and searches the bushes for bugs, he’s unaware that his yellow-on-yellow color matching with the leaves makes the early morning even more special.

Allan

Credits:

Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds

Sibley Guide to Birds, Second Edition

Migration Story

The northbound birds that migrated through Wisconsin this spring have long since passed.   The southbound migration from Alaska and Canada has barely commenced. We only have our summer resident birds to enjoy now.

This new 1^st year Cedar Waxwing still looks warm and fuzzy.  He’s attained some degree of self-sufficiency in his short life, but he still needs his parents. He looks to be healthy and able to migrate, but he needs to learn the Cedar Waxwing migration routes yet.

Two juvenile Tree Swallows wait to be fed along a branch .  They weren’t catching their own insects over a nearby pond, nor did I see them being fed, but someone is still caring for them.  Just barely out of their downy feathers, they depend on their parents for nourishment.

A pair of Eastern Kingbirds lingered in a tree as I approached. They didn’t fly away as I expected. They had something to protect. Just barely visible in the branches below was the nest they were guarding.

Eventually they responded to my intrusion by taking to the air.

They hovered above to persuade me to leave. 

Wanting to stay, but needing to go, 

I left.

Another somewhat older, but still  juvenile Eastern Kingbird perches at the top of a tree in Cedarburg, waiting to be shown by an adult which way to fly .

Appearing insecure, curious or maybe a bit cautious, this Baltimore Oriole might be an adult female or a 1^st year juvenile.  Baltimore Orioles are summer residents in Wisconsin.  They will leave soon.

Another summer resident, the Red-winged Blackbird, is well known for his scolding, harassing and  in your face attitude that can get annoying.  Aggressive and protective of his territory, a Red-winged Blackbird could draw blood from the top of your head if you came across a particularly mean one. 

Besides having your hair rearranged by a Red-winged Blackbird, another danger of summer is stepping onto a bumblebee nest. 

I was a half-second away from stepping onto what I thought was a bare patch of ground in an otherwise tall field of grass.  

Not so…bad mistake...I diverted my foot just in time…no harm, no foul. I departed quickly.

The American Goldfinch is a permanent Wisconsin resident. Still in his spring breeding colors, this male was keeping his feathers clean. Males and females will take on a paler appearance during the winter months. Easily attracted to a backyard seed feeder, you could have American Goldfinches  eating outside your window throughout the winter.

The goldfinch’s colors are not the only colors in transition in mid-August. Treetops are changing too and  birds get to see the colors change up close.

The out-migration will begin soon.  Thousands of birds will be passing through Wisconsin and not just the big Canada Geese. The southbound songbirds will be less colorful and somewhat weather feather worn at this time of year, but a recognizable resemblance of their springtime selves.  

Think of the fall migration as another chance to see these beautiful birds in a different light.  

The show is free.  Just look up!

Allan