Birding 2013: Orioles

If you are a baseball fan, you might already be familiar with the Baltimore Oriole. But there are other orioles besides the Baltimore that can be found in the United States - the Streak-backed, Bullock's, Hooded, Orchard, Altamira, Spot-breasted, Scott's, and Audubon's.However, only the Baltimore and Orchard are found eat of the Mississippi River (Sibley, 2000). Of the two, the Baltimore is considered to be fairly common in Connecticut and the Orchard uncommon (Hanisek, 2008).

According to Hanisek (2008), the Baltimore Oriole breeds in Connecticut from late May to early July where as the Orchard Oriole breeds here in June. From this it is easy to see why the Orchard is less common - the Baltimore Oriole gets here sooner, establishes territory sooner, and nests and breeds sooner causing the Orchard Oriole to be out competed for resources in open woods where both are found.

So here are two pictures - the Baltimore Oriole on the left and the Orchard Oriole on the right. I need to point out that the Baltimore Oriole (May 27, 2013) was photographed in very good lighting where as the Orchard Oriole (June 2, 2013) was photographed in dim light. Both were about the same distance away from me, but you can see just how dark the Orchard Oriole is compared to the Baltimore Oriole. The Orchard is more of a reddish/brown/rust and not the bright orange of the Baltimore Oriole.