I use the cheapest grape jelly I can find, and have not had an oriole pass it up, or a catbird for that matter. However, I have read that the jelly jars are dangerous to use. Once the jelly gets to a low level, the bird can get caught in the jar as it goes in and can get trapped and die. A few places have discontinued selling them. Something to think about. I use an oriole feeder I bought on ebay a few years ago. It has 2 cups for jelly, and two places for oranges. It's also covered and is made of recycled plastic. The birds love it.

2 & 3 yrs ago only had 1 male come to nectar feeder for a couple weeks. last year had both male and female come to grape jelly and nectar feeder for a couple weeks also. this year we set out 3 feeding stations with nectar feeder, grape jelly and a bowl of diluted grape jelly. had multiple males and females coming to all 3 feeders. the males likes solid grape jelly the females likes the diluted grape jelly. our first sighting for orioles were may 3rd. they stopped coming by may 25th. they disappeared for about 2 weeks and returned June 6th. by June 30th starting seeing baby orioles. we have been blessed to see parents and babies playing and flying from tree to tree in the trees that surround our property and also feeding at 1 particular feeding station.

Hello! I just saw your post and hope that you've now been successful in attracting the orioles to your yard. Don't give up! It took me years to "get them" the first time but now they return every year. This year so far, I have at least five pairs that visit the feeders regularly. I understand that they spend their winters in Central America, so your location shouldn't be a problem. I live about an hour northwest of Toronto, Canada. Every spring, I put out a nectar feeder that I half-fill with orange-coloured sugar/water. This must be changed frequently (2-3x/week) because they won't take it if it isn't fresh. In addition, I skewer a half an orange on another nearby feeder, which is always very popular. HOWEVER, this year I have learned (to my amazement) that they won't eat "juice" oranges (Valencia), they'll only eat Navel oranges!!! I can't believe they're so particular! Early in the season their main diet is sugary-based nectar but a few weeks later they seem to prefer a protein-based diet (bugs, worms, caterpillars, etc.) so you may not see them at your feeder unless you offer live mealworms, which orioles ADORE. Mealworms are available in the reptile department of most pet stores. YES, they are totally gross but worth it to attract and sustain the Orioles and Eastern Bluebirds in our garden. We have a shallow little mealworm feeder dish that attaches to the nectar feeder pole. I too have read that grape jelly is an attractant but so far, only about 10% of our birds have shown any interest whatsoever. No idea why. A couple of oriole resources I would recommend include the Cornell Ornithology website: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Baltimore_Oriole/lifehistory and the Stokes Oriole book: https://www.amazon.ca/Stokes-Oriole-Book-Lillian/dp/0316816949/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463403938&sr=8-1&keywords=Stokes+oriole+book I'm certainly no expert but this is what I've learned from about 20 years of attracting these little orange marvels to my garden. Good luck, and hang in there! :-)

Tom, It's so cool that you're still seeing them. I've been watching but none yet. Here's a site that has month-by-month migration on Baltimore and Bullock Orioles: Oriole migration I couldn't find any info on whether the males and females migrate separately. It appears that they will winter in Florida from September through March. I found it interesting that older migration maps such as my Audubon Field Guide from 1977 (even found other maps online as late as 1985) show them wintering in Mexico and south with no mention of wintering in Florida. However, newer maps show Florida as a main wintering ground. Global warming? I know that they like sugar water and fruit juice, especially oranges, so I' not surprised they are using your hummingbird feeders. Enjoy your birds, Rhonda