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Hooded Orioles ... couple questions

12 years ago

We've had Hooded Orioles visiting the hummingbird feeder for the first time this year. Definitely fun to watch. I've been studying the orioles closely and there's at least 10-15 of them now. Probably more females than males, but there's a noticeable difference between them. Some bigger, some taller, some fatter, different shades of color, etc.

- Does anyone know how often, or how much sugar water, a single oriole drinks in one day? (reason I ask is because our 32-ounce feeder is emptied after 9 days)

- Next year, will the same orioles return to our feeder?

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Comments (5)

donald lucius
12 years ago
i have the bullocks orioles here and i have 3 oriole necter feeders and 3 hummingbird feeders and right now have about 5 nesting pairs and 4 nesting pair of tanagers and should be getting the fledglings in a couple of weeks.
right now i have to fill the feeders about twice a week and am useing about a quart or more a day of mix and when i get about 20 to 25 young ones showing up it will increase to 3 to 4 quarts a day, that includes 1/2 dozen hummingbirds also.but they start migrating in late july and by september they are all gone till the following spring.
tommysmommy
12 years ago
dklucius, where are you? We have Bullocks orioles in Colorado but I haven't seen one yet.
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I also have that feeder... $10 at a local garden shop last year. A couple of things about the feeder: - The color fades if you hang it in the sun all summer. Mine is still orange, but paler than it was. There is a clear difference between the underside and the sun-exposed top side. - I never saw an oriole use the perches. To eat the orange they will hang from the metal rod. Post-migration, when they stopped eating orange and instead preferred grape jelly, they would still cling to the metal rod and stretch down to eat the jelly from the trays. I never saw an oriole drink nectar, but I was a few weeks late getting this feeder up and it's possible they just no longer wanted nectar by that time. I would like to see orioles using the perches, so I'm considering putting an orange slice over each nectar hole and holding them in place by sticking something(stick/nail) down into the holes. - We had never seen orioles before, and I wasn't really expecting to see any when I put the feeder out, but within a couple days there were two of them out there eating the orange. This year I am going to get the feeder out sooner and I also have a vibrant orange bucket sitting in the garage that I'm going to throw over a fence board. Between the feeder and bucket I'm hoping any orioles flying over the area will drop in for a closer look.
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donald lucius
12 years ago
i live outside of Durango in the county. some houses and trailers around but also couple hundred acres of juniper and pinyon and oak brush and old pastures on two sides of me. lots of different birds nest all through the area and most come to my feeders daily. Another thing the orioles and tanagers and grosbeaks love is the grape jelly and i have to fill my jelly feeder and bowl everyday.
bbcathy
12 years ago
Glad you have new birds. I am in the east an have Baltimore Orioles, Grosbeaks and Hummers and love them all. One thing I'd like to tell you that you may not be aware of is that nine days is a very long time to leave a nectar feeder filled. They need to be cleaned a minimum of once a week in cool weather to every couple of days in hot weather. Black mold and fungus' form easy in the sugar water which is not good for the birds. Hummers can contract bill rot from dirty feeders and it is fatal for them. Wash them out is hot soapy water with a toothbrush and refill.
Yes the same birds will return nest year if they like it there. In my yard they feed really heavy now but much less when the wild berries and friuts come out until right before migration. Happy birding.
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donald lucius
12 years ago
i have spare feeders and what i do about every three days in warm weather is take one down each time and soak it in a bucket of bleach water over night and rinse it out well and use it to replace the next one. lucky here in that we get low humidy most of the year and mold is not a big problem but it can and does show up in the hot humid times.

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