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Monday, May 19, 2008

Oriole Blossom

Our crabapple trees are in full bloom. Yesterday 2 male and 1 female Baltimore Orioles were drinking nectar from their blossoms. We watched through the window with our binoculars, then I went out to take photos. We never tire of these beautiful birds.
If you want to attract orioles, plant crabapples. They also sometimes come to orange halves or oriole feeders filled with sugar water, just like hummingbirds. When orioles beging nesting they usually just eat protein in the form of insects and caterpillars, and may leave the nectar and oranges. So don't be surprised if they stop coming to your oriole feeder. They also feed protein to their babies.

2 comments:

Zesty said...

I have also been enjoying the song of these beautiful birds...
What a GREAT Blog site!
Thanks for sharing these wonderful photos!!!

The Zen Birdfeeder said...

For the first time, we've had an oriole stay in our area for more than a day or two. A single male, singing away. Is it possible he's a first year male, establishing new territory and looking for a mate? We posted a personal ad for him to try to help him out.
http://wildbirdsunlimited.typepad.com