Oriole Tips from The Little Chickadee

Attracting Orioles To Your Backyard

See all our Oriole-related products and gift ideas here

Because of their strikingly beautiful black and orange or yellow plumage, their distinctive whistle, spring songs, and their amazing suspended nest, orioles are quickly becoming one of America's favorite birds. All United States Orioles show variation on the theme of black with yellow or orange plumage. While over eight species of Orioles can regularly be seen in the United States, we'll deal mainly in this section with three species -- Baltimore, Bullocks, and Orchard. See range maps at right (click to see them larger in a pop-up window):

Range maps of the three most common Orioles in the United States

Except for in the Southeast, all Orioles are tropical migrants. While migrations vary from year-to-year, Orioles generally arrive in the South in early spring, Midwest in early May, and further North soon afterward. It is very important that you have Oriole feeders up and ready before this time, or often they will pass you by for better feeding grounds. It is equally important to have nesting materials out and ready to help encourage Orioles to nest in your yard (although studies are still being done on how much we can tempt Orioles to nest in backyards.) By summer's end, migrating Orioles are headed back south to their tropical winter homes in Central and South America. It does appear that Baltimore Orioles ranges are expanding, while Bullocks and Orchard Orioles are declining. All Orioles need and benefit from your help.

Feeding Orioles

Orioles migrate at night so they are tired, cold, and hungry when they arrive in your yard. If you wait until you see them to put out food, you are "too late" to attract maximum numbers of Orioles to your yard. Oranges are one of the keys to attracting Orioles. Cut oranges in half and provide them "juicy side out." A beautiful feeder for this purpose is Woodlink's Brushed Copper Oriole Feeder (pictured left).

You can also attract Orioles up close by offering Oriole nectar, jelly, and fruit on feeders by the house and patio. We love the new bright orange Jelly/Jam Fliteline Feeder from Bird Company (pictured right), as it's inexpensive and slips right onto Smuckers™ or other 10-12 oz. jelly jars. Many people feed jelly year 'round because not only Orioles, but Woodpeckers, Robins, Warblers, and others enjoy it. Grape jelly seems to be the favorite, Many people tell us they keep Orioles around longer after they start feeding them jelly!!

Among our favorite Oriole nectar feeders are the Bird Company Oriole Feeders (pictured left). Why? Their wide mouths and flat tops make them easy to fill and clean (base comes apart easily to clean), and their patented bee guards make sure Orioles (not bees!) enjoy the nectar. If you're worried about ants bothering your jelly or Oriole nectar, simply hang one of Songbird Essentials Clear Nectar Protector ant moats above them and fill with water. These act like a moat around a castle (ants can't swim) and for just a few bucks you never have to mess with cleaning them out of the feeder!! (These work well on hummingbird feeders, also!) While we often tell people to mix their own hummingbird nectar from sugar, we do feel the commercial Oriole nectars that we offer attract and hold more Orioles at the feeder longer.

The Little Chickadee carries many more brands and styles of Oriole feeders. View all of them here.

Nesting

Where nesting material is available, Orioles will defend an area of several acres and start building a pendulous nest. You can help encourage them by offering long strips of twine or horse hair. You might also try Songbird Essentials' Nesting Material "Mixture". It contains feathers, string, cotton, hemp and aspen fibers.

Orioles make a pendulous nest with the females normally taking 5-8 days to do all the weaving. The male defends their territory and occasionally checks out the construction of the nest, but offers little help or expertise. The nest may be as much as 8 inches in length and is often supported from the tips of branches that hang out over open areas such as rivers or roads. The female will lay 4-5 pale gray to bluish eggs, which she alone will incubate until they hatch in 12-14 days. Both parents feed the babies until they fledge in another 12-14 days. By summer's end, all will have departed for a warm winter stay in South America.

Want to learn more?

S ee "Bird Man Mel" talk about Orioles.