Nesting Orioles

A little over a month ago I was on my way out of Duke Farms when a visitor wanted to know about these birds he saw over near the Hay Barn. It turned out that there was a Baltimore Oriole couple who were busy bringing food in for their kids. Their nestlings were definitely hungry; when a parent would show up, they'd all start crying for the food. And the parents seemed to be pretty good foragers - it seemed like 1 or the other would appear every couple of minutes.

Baltimore Orioles build nests differently from most birds. Instead of something like a bowl that rests on a branch, the orioles build sack-like nests that hang from a branch. I'm not sure what the advantage of the hanging nest is, though there probably are advantages since they're probably harder to build. (I suppose it's probably pretty hard for a nestling to fall out of these nests.)

Female Baltimore Oriole
June 11, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 209944904, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


Male Baltimore Oriole
June 11, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 209944827, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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