Feeding Baltimore Orioles - When do I give up? (5 Viewers)

[JMomOhio]

I saw a pic of an orange and jelly feeder and hubby made one for me. We've had it up for weeks, changed the orange and jelly often and hear the orioles everyday. In fact, the male follows me around the house while I'm out planting flowers. We can hear them and they've visited our fountain for a bath, but still they don't come to the feeder. Is it too late to offer oranges and jelly? Are they just eating bugs at this point? The feeder is just like the one pictured that I found online.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Julie

 

[daltonjj]

You didn't mention what kind of jelly you are using. We are have had and are having great success with feeding grape jelly.

 

[JMomOhio]

Yes, I'm feeding grape jelly also and oranges. They just continue to swoop over the house and don't stop at the feeder. Our hummingbirds seem to be enjoying the nectar tho! lol! I just wondered if at some point they lose interest in the oranges and jelly and just prefer bugs?

How often do you change the oranges and jelly?

Btw, my daughter lives in Wisconsin. It's beautiful up there!

Thanks,

Julie

 

[daltonjj]

I have two feeders with grape jelly and have to refill each at least every day and sometimes twice (about 3/4 cup per feeder). Many different birds are eating the jelly, several kinds of finches, a few sparrows and even a robin. We go through about 20 jars of jelly per season. In about a few months from now, the wasps will be at it as well and cause some problems for the birds to get to it.

 

[JMomOhio]

Hmmmm....I've been replacing my jelly every other day. Same is true with the oranges. I wonder if that's why I'm not getting the orioles in. Is the jelly going bad?

Julie

 

[daltonjj]

Sometimes we have the jelly out for several days when the feeding is slower and seems to be OK ... I don't think it is a spoiling issue.
I have attached a picture of the feeders I have made ... very simple to construct and uses a "cutoff" yogert cup siting in a hole, sized so that the cup won't slide through it. Maybe you could try this approach??

 

[JMomOhio]

Thanks for the design. We had one similar to that and they didn't come to it either. Perhaps I'm not hanging it high enough or in the wrong place. It's about 14 ft off the ground, but it's near the house. Should it be farther away? Thanks!

 

[daltonjj]

Ours are about 6 feet above the ground. One 10 or 12 feet from the house and the other further away, maybe 30 feet. They both get a lot of action.
Some of your neighbors must be feeding as you said that the birds are in your area. If so, how are they feeding??

 

[richteaz]

Placement and The Jelly

I realize I'm joining this discussion way to late, but for those who may see this at a later time...

First let me say as strange as this sounds, the males seem to prefer the Jelly while the female prefer Nectar, mixed at the same ratio as for 'hummers'.
Nectar is fed in a HummerFeeder with 'flowers' removed so the holes are larger.

I feed Grape Jelly with a very small amount of sugar stirred in very well.
They seem to LOVE this stuff as I'm filling twice daily.
My feeder is just a platform feeder with a low 'dish' attached so it doesn't move around. But I can still remove it for cleaning. They seem to love the platform feeder as well. I have sunflower seeds there too for the Rosebreasted Grosbeaks.

I average one landing to feed each five minutes or so.

As for placement, my feeders are hanging on my front porch approx. 5-6 feet from my living room window. So distance doesn't seem to be an issue.

 

[richteaz]

I should have added they've been feeding steadily for over a month and are now joined by their many offspring. It's a pure joy watching them all.

 

[ChickaD]

Hi everyone, Just like to share some of my oriole happenings here. I have a pole system bird feeder which tube feeders hang on and have an attached
"jelly dish" for the orioles.

I put the grape jelly out 2x's a day here because they eat it that fast. Have had a male Red breasted Grosbeak also eating the jelly. Have seen 3 pair of orioles coming, finding the males fighting over the jelly, while the female waits for the males to leave, then takes her turn.

I have tried the nectar feeder for orioles, but they try it and go straight for the jelly. :-O Our pole feeder is located just 10 feet from our patio glass door.

Sure enjoyed reading over all your posts, have a great day all |:d|

 

[gymell]

Try putting out mealworms for the them. My orioles gorge themselves on the mealworms and also I see them at my hummingbird feeder much more often than the actual oriole feeder. I took the bee guard off one of the ports to make it easier for the orioles to access. Check out my feedercam (link below in my sig) for an idea of the setup. For example, here is a screen capture from the feedercam with an oriole at the mealworm dish: http://www.pbase.com/gymell/image/97317119 .

 

[ChickaD]

Enjoyed viewing you setup Liz, very nice, birds and nature are wonderful and so much fun to observe. Darlene

 

[gymell]

ChickaD - I see you're just across the river from me! How about this cool spring we are having! Since I have chickadees nesting in my yard, I wanted to keep mealworms out for them due to the lack of bugs around. That's when I discovered how much orioles like mealworms.

 

[ChickaD]

Gymell We are just across the river from each other |:d| It sure has been a different spring, today we had storms roll through and within a few hours picked up 2 1/2 " rain. About a week and half ago, we had a frost. Did have hummers coming here, and now, hardly at all; I think that is because of our weather changes.

You are so lucky to have nesting Chickadees...we have them coming to the feeders. Where do they like to nest by you?

Enjoy your weekend and happy birding to all :flyaway:

 

[gymell]

ChickaD - they moved into a box I put up for the bluebirds. This is the second season they've nested in the box. Actually if you look on my feedercam, you can see the box in the background. The chicks just fledged yesterday! Last year the bluebirds nested in the same box later in the summer, and then the downy woodpeckers roosted in it over the winter.

According to my weather station, we picked up 1.25" of rain this evening!

 

[ChickaD]

Thanks gymell for getting back to me on the Chickadees...your bluebird nesting box gets a lot of action then throughout the year, so fun to observe.

I appreciate your responses back to me...always nice to chat with another BF member, and a bonus when she's from one of our sister states :bounce:

Happy weekend everyone |8)|