Baltimore Oriole Question (1 Viewer)

Hello,
This year was the first time I tried feeding Orioles in my back yard. I've seen them in previous year trying to access my humming bird feeder. But this time I put oranges out for them and suet. They love both and I attracted many. However they were around for only about a month, now they are gone. I have orange still outside but no one has been eating it.

My questions are -

Have they left my region? Where did they go?

Will we see them again when they migrate south?

Why do they not stick around like humming birds do? I tend to see the same hummingbirds for the entire summer until they migrate south later on in the year.

You're near the northern edge of their breeding range, so they haven't gone north of you. I've still got plenty down here in southern New England. No idea where yours went. Do you have a cat in your backyard?

They are likely still around, just not interested in your fruit offering.

During breeding, and while feeding their young, they shift to a more protein rich diet of insects.

More information here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Baltimore_Oriole/lifehistory

Should I continue to put the orange out?

What about grape jelly/jam? I've heard they love that stuff...

They absolutely love grape jelly.

I for one am still seeing orioles daily. There's a nest just beyond my back fence, high up and well_hidden but easy to find due to a very noisy brood inside. The parents never rest until full dark, and seem to catch an insect a few times per minute without ever venturing very far.


A few paces away there's a pair of wood thrush, nesting just above arm's reach of a busy trail, in the least-concealed nest I've ever seen. They and their chicks just sit quietly on the nest while people and dogs trot by (usually without looking up) but (the adults) are more wary when foraging on the ground.

Quite a contrast to the song sparrows nesting in a bush in my front yard. They'll leave the nest whenever we open the front door, and find a high perch from which to watch and scold us as long as we remain in the front yard.

I get Bullock's Orioles, a regular spring arrival.

Early on, they like the orange feeders as well as the modified hummer feeders; nothing but drilled out holes for their larger beak.

By late spring they're done with the oranges but continue to visit the baths; M, F with their brood. I keep the oranges up just in case, no runs on the oranges but they seem amused watching the Northern Mockingbirds tear 'em up.

Yesterday I had an Orchard Oriole singing pretty high in a tree. He had no interest in any of it.