MAGAZINE. The Baltimore oriole is nicknamed the bird of spring, since its arrival often coincides with the opening of the first leaves and the first flowers of fruit trees.
Recognizable by its flamboyant colors, the male stands out with its orange plumage and black head. The female, on the other hand, has variable plumage. The underside can range from yellow to bright orange. Its head is greyish and its beak is very pointed grey-blue. The Baltimore oriole is insectivorous and frugivorous. Males and females feed the young directly at the nest.
Moreover, its nest is made of thin woven fibers forming a closed tube at the bottom, usually 3 to 4 inches deep with a small opening 2 to 3 inches wide on the top. At the bottom, there is a domed room 3 to 4 inches in diameter, in which the eggs will rest. The female ties everything up in a tree (up to 18 m from the ground) by first hooking long fibers over the branch and then, using her beak, she weaves the fibers together.
Its nest is often observed in deciduous trees in open woods, at the edge of forests, in orchards, near streams, in parks and backyards. Its whistled song emitted from treetops is composed of variable stanzas, but the sound quality of the whistled notes is always the same.
nectar and fruit
The oriole appreciates feeders and waterers where it is offered nectar and fruits such as orange slices and bananas. He likes to drink sugar water like hummingbirds. The recipe: a quarter cup of white sugar for a cup of hot water, then let cool.
The ecological status of the species is considered to be of concern. Some reasons for this situation: loss of habitat, deforestation in order to increase the cultivable land and the habitable range and the increase of softwood forests to the detriment of mixed forests
Reference: Second Atlas of Breeding Birds of Quebec and Wikipedia. This article was provided by the Orthological Society of Centre-du-Québec.