Orchard Oriole

This beautiful guy is always present in large numbers & easy to find in High Island, TX during spring migration. One of my favorites.
Flocks of them (and Baltimore orioles) are seen all over the mulberry trees & bottle brush.

The Orchard Oriole was seen frequently this summer. Jelly seemed to be its favorite treat. The male was seen often, but we also enjoyed the female and/or juveniles. They preferred the bath. We once had a group of five of them together.

I learned to differentiate the juvenile Orchards from the Baltimore young. The Orchards will look more olive on their backs and their fronts will be a uniform yellow. The Baltimores will be darker, almost black on their backs and their color is more yellow-orange. Oh, and a big difference I only this summer noticed. Size! The Orchard Orioles are much smaller than the Baltimores.

Their song confused me. For years, I thought it was a Baltimore Oriole singing, but one of my children saw the bird while it was singing, s... read moreo proved me wrong. So we now believe they have nested here. :)