Baltimore Oriole: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Bright Little Birds · day 5 of 7

Five facts

1. This bird is named after a lord: the male's orange and black matched the colours on the coat of arms of Lord Baltimore, a 17th-century nobleman.
2. The female weaves a tight, bag-shaped nest that hangs from the tip of a branch, usually some 7 to 9 m above the ground.
3. Orioles are fussy about fruit. They go for the darkest mulberries and reddest cherries, and skip green grapes even when they are ripe.
4. To drink fruit juice, an oriole jabs its closed beak into soft fruit, opens it wide, then laps up the juice with its tongue.
5. When orioles give their harsh warning chatter, other kinds of orioles nearby may answer and come to help defend the territory.

The quiz

1. Where does the Baltimore oriole's name come from?

• The colours of Lord Baltimore's coat of arms (correct)
• A baseball player
• The sound of its song
• The first city it was seen in

The male's colours resembled those on Lord Baltimore's coat of arms.

2. What does the Baltimore oriole's nest look like?

• A mud cup stuck to a wall
• A hole in the ground
• A woven pouch hanging from a branch tip (correct)
• A pile of stones

The female weaves a tight pouch that hangs from the end of a branch.

3. Which fruit do Baltimore orioles tend to ignore?

• The darkest mulberries
• Green grapes (correct)
• The reddest cherries
• Deep-purple grapes

They prefer dark fruit and ignore green grapes, even ripe ones.

4. How does an oriole get juice out of soft fruit?

• It squeezes it with its feet
• It drops it on a rock
• It waits for the rain
• It stabs it with a closed beak, opens it and laps the juice (correct)

It stabs its closed bill in, opens it, and laps the juice with its tongue.

5. What may other orioles do when they hear the warning chatter?

• Fly away for good
• Come to help defend the territory (correct)
• Start building nests
• Stay silent and hide

Other oriole species respond to the alert calls and try to help defend.

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