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Thursday, May 28, 2015
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The Baltimore oriole is one of the more beautiful birds that you’ll find during the spring and summer on the Niagara Frontier. They are unmistakable in appearance, their fire orange bodies contrasting with their black heads and wings. They are equally attractive in voice, with a loud, far-carrying whistled tune that it sends from the treetops. Their homes are just as interesting, too, a sack-like nest that looks like a pendulum as it hangs from branches, a real marvel of avian engineering.
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Baltimore orioles can be attracted to your yard with a variety of feeding
stations. (PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDY REAGO AND CHRISY
|
But, there is a way to bring them closer to the ground and closer to view: Feeding them.
Despite being voracious insect eaters, they love fruits too. When our local berry crops hit their peak in mid-summer, up to 20% of an oriole’s diet might be fleshy fruits and berries.
You can take advantage of that and build a series of feeding stations in your yard. My parents maintain some in their yard and they are typically visited by a half dozen of the fiery males and just as many of the more subdued, almost yellowish females.
The orioles have been in town for two or three weeks now and will be with us through the summer, so it’s not too late to get started.
Here are some attractants that have proven successful for my parents:

Orioles will consume fleshy fruits like oranges. All you have to do is split the orange in half and firmly attach it (with a nail or post) to a feeding platform. If the orange is not mounted to something, the orioles will have a hard time tearing apart the juicy contents and they will quickly lose interest. Orioles will consume the fruits from either a horizontal feeding platform or a vertical set-up as shown in the accompanying photograph. Other birders have found similar success with apples and pears.
Feed them like you would a hummingbird

There are a variety of hummingbird sugar waters and nectars on the market that hummers and orioles will eat. My mom suggests you save money and make your own. It’s easy. Boil a concoction that’s two-and-a-half cups water to one cup sugar (which is even sweeter than many hummingbird drinks on the market). Let it cool before putting it in your plastic feeder.
Give them jelly

If you want to see Baltimore orioles up close and personal this summer, follow these time-tested approaches to attracting them to your yard. You surely won’t be disappointed by your newfound feathered friends.
+Bob Confer lives in rural Gasport where Baltimore Orioles frequent his lawn…although he has yet to see Cal Ripken Jr. or Jim Palmer. Follow him on Twitter @bobconfer or email him at bobconfer@juno.com
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