Where are you located? That beak *does* suggest female Western Tanager, as does the plumage.

Eastern North Dakota, Grand Forks, right along the Red River. Orioles - both Baltimore and Orchard - are common. Western Tanager is very uncommon, but not out of the realm of possibility.

The uncommon aspect is throwing me off, but stranger things have happened. If it comes back, see if you can get more photos of the back...

These are the best I have for now of the back...

Also, she likes grapes. I know orioles like grapes, I don't know if tanagers would have the same taste for them or if this would be a good clue to her identity.

Looks like a female Orchard Oriole..they come to my Tulip Poplars, but not my feeder, so far

Sure looks like a western tanager female to me. Here is a pic I snagged from the internet with just about the same pose and everything.

BN

that was my trouble, BN: it LOOKS like a Tanager, acts like an Oriole, and seems to be hanging *around* with them, from the photos. Egads.

Well, until we hear from someone else, I am going with female Baltimore (not Orchard; they're just *too* yellow, you know? hehe)

Feather

Feather, our local birding expert also went with female Baltimore at first (he's still studying it and hopes to come see the bird today). I am really surprised. I have not seen female Baltimores this yellow/green and with so little head color. Am I mistaken on that? (obviously so).

As for rarity - a Western Tanager is seen in our area about once every 5-10 years and it is always a male. Is that because the females aren't recognized but are thought to be orioles?

It is hanging around some with the orioles, certainly loves the grapes. To my mind though, it behaves a bit differently. She seems calmer and less flitty on the feeder poles. When I drove up last night, all the orioles flew away, she did not.

We put together this little collage using our pictures of her (mystery bird) and a couple pics stolen off the web (my apologies to whoever took those pics). This definitely sways my mind, but I'll let all of you take a look and see what you think. I need to go search for Baltimore females to see if I find one like our girl.

Update:
Our local birding expert was able to get out to my house this morning and check out this bird. He said absolutely it is a female Western Tanager! This is a very exciting bird for us as they are so rare here and especially for a female. Personally, my husband and I are very excited that we identified it, even though we needed confirmation. Woo Hoo!

Thank you all for helping, your comments helped me know what to look for.

Ann

Congratulations to both of you Ann and Feather for the identification!

Luc