Oriole Feeder Questions

Love your haul from the birdstore, dellrose! If you aren't going to work there, maybe you should buy stock in the company, at least! I like the the water wiggler idea a lot. Never heard of those before--do you plug it in or is it battery operated, I wonder...?

Looks like the Orioles have migrated up the Eastern Seaboard and have yet to come through Ohio so I have a bit of time to get my orange stuff out on my Oriole display.

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/current_spring.html?layers=oriole_sighted

I did put out two hanging baskets of red geraniums and wave petunias (even though it's still cold and rainy here) in hopes of early Hummingbirds stopping in to house hunt.

No bluebirds yet. We put out meal worms, 2 nest boxes, a birdbath (which needs a water wiggler), and a bit of blue ribbon but haven't seen any around. Oh, and we play a bluebird call from the internet out the window once in the morning and once in the evening. Maybe we are trying too hard! LOL

LeBug...When I started birding last year I was so concerned that the finches wouldn't have enough to eat so I kept buying more and more feeders...now I have way too many but everyone always has someplace to eat.

Hi Tab...Good to see you! The water wiggler runs on 2 batteries..D cell I think. The batteries are supposed to last for 2 months...and it keeps the water moving. The birds seem to enjoy it but I'm sure it will get a lot more attention this summer. Right now there is lots of water everywhere but once it turns hot and dry I know the bird bath will be a very popular place.

I've yet to see a hummer or Oriole and I'm trying to be patient. It is too nasty and cold for them and I think they passed us by as they have been spotted north of us!! Boo Hoo!!!

Good luck on attracting the BB's Tab...I think you have done all you can do...good luck!

Hi Tab - I had no bluebird luck at all the first year I had my first box. Didn't even SEE a bluebird. The second year (and every year since) they were fighting to get in. Spotted a pair this morning for the first time this spring - HURRAY!

Dellrose - I'll be very interested to hear what the birds think of the water wiggler! I wonder if it might scare them??

No hummers, no orioles, no tree swallows...........but at least most of our snow has melted....

If the hummers are smart they'll pass us by. It's so rainy and cold and dreary here, I wouldn't stop either!

I'm happy to say that the hummingbirds have found my red geraniums and 4 feeders. We have about 4 HBs or more flying around the crabapple and lilac blooms this week.

I have put out oranges for the orioles, too. But I haven't seen any yet.

I did see dellrose's beautiful photos on her thread of the Orioles, though. So if they are in missouri, it can't be too long before they find us here in Ohio...!

Did I already say I have a chickadee in the bb next box? At first I was disappointed that it wasn't a BB, but I've been watching her/him go in and out and it's really cute. It's the first time we've had any birds nest in a box. Of course we've had lots of nesting birds around, though. But never as cute as this one.

I have orioles and hummers in my yard every year from March until late fall. Every year the orioles nest in my Mexican Elder and sit on the hummingbird feeders and suck the sugar water. I just bought an orange feeder but it has no instructions. I am assuming since they have been drinking from the hummers feeders for the last 8 summers, I can just put the same sugar water in the new feeder? I am in hopes it will keep them from sitting on the hummers feeder and draining all the water? I also put orange slices out for them. Any advice?

PSSSTTT. Don't tell her, but I just got my Mom this…

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-40065609505912_1995_504475

Cute as can be and a great Mother's Day gift!

Yah, and I saw somewhere that you can also put mealies in the cups for the BBs.

I'm no expert but I have read sugar to water proportions of 1 to 4 all the way up to 1 to 6. I think you can tinker a bit and see what they like the best but it sounds like you have a dadrn good recipe!

Mrs. Ed, you really got your mom the cadillac of oriole feeders! Very fancy!

Thanks Tabasco, I just made the sugar water in my old standard 4 parts water to one part sugar. I added a tablespoon of orange juice concentrate since they seem to love the orange slices. Always tinkering with recipes even for the birds!

1 to 6 for Orioles. Last year I made the nectar for both at the same time (at 1 to 4) but would leave filling the Oriole feeder for last and just add a little more water to bring it closer towards 1 to 6. It doesn't have to be exactly right. :-)

Thanks that will be easy!

I've been mixing mine the same as Pelle!

Muddylou...I just noticed you asked about the Water Wiggler. I think it did scare some of the birds at first except of course for the fearless Goldfinches, but now it seems all the birds are using that bird bath.

Mrs. Ed...I love that cool feeder...I'm old enuf to be your Mom...hint! LOL!!

Last year the Orioles broke one of my blown glass hummer feeders...this year I have 2 new feeders for them and I haven't seen them use those or the hummer feeders. They seem to only have eyes for the grape jelly and oranges!!

HA Rose! Sometimes I think you ARE my mom.

Thats a beautiful feeder Mrs Ed! She'll love that!

WOOHOO! Just spotted orioles!!

GET OUT! Congrats.

She's got (1) orioles; (2) a leafed-out tree and (3) blooming flowers in that tree.

We've not (1) no orioles (2) buds barely showing and (3) flowers?????? HA!!!!!!!!

siiiiigghhhhhhhhhhhh

Crabby in MInnesota.....

(gorgeous pic, Nanny!)

haha. Muddy! Hang tight. Almost there!!

Congrats, Nanny!!
I just put my feeder out yesterday. The feeder is filled with grape jelly mixture and I placed some orange slices in a clear container, so hopefully that will draw some attention!

Thanks! I almost passed him by. Thought it was a robin at first...I was out looking for Towhee's! Hope everyone gets some!

Whippee Nanny!!! Let the party begin!! (He sure is handsome)!!

Muddy & Tiger...They will be there in no time...hang in there!

Congratulations nanny!!!!

Very cool, nanny! So are you putting out grape jelly and so on or did your oriole just 'appear'?!

We are in south central MO.....right on the Arkansas line........and we have had Orioles for 4? or 5? days. I already had an Oriole feeder up, and the hummers were using it until the Orioles arrived. I now have several oranges out along with some blackberry jam, since I didn't have any grape jelly! Turns out nobody is very picky. Even the cardinals are eating it. I keep my feeders away from the seed feeder since I've read that Orioles are shy. One is on the patio, and one is in a tree in the front yard. The jelly is in a lid which sits in a saucer that I keep filled with water to keep the ants away. We have had five or six male Orioles and maybe four immature males. So far, no females. However, for the first time, we have one male Orchard Oriole. Gorgeous! And a female and immature male Orchard Oriole. We love it when the Orioles arrive, but we've never had any hang around more than a few days. We're in the country with woods and open fields, so there ought to be some great nesting sites. Are there any tips for getting them to stay?

Sounds like the Orioles would love your place, Mima.

From the breeding maps it looks like they breed in MO. Birds by bent says they like to build nests in largish trees like maple, locust and elm to name just a few. They eat caterpillars, worms, potato beetles, and lots of other insects and seeds.

I don't know why they wouldn't nest around your place, Mima---maybe they like water, too...? Is there some kind of water nearby?

Good luck with your orioles. It must be quite a site around your yard!

Thanks for the encouraging words. Yes, we have a creek just across the back field, plus we keep five bird baths year round. We do love our birds! We also have three mealworms feeders, primarily for the Blue Birds. I don't dare put mealworms out in the open for the Orioles, though: our cardinals would gobble them up!

We had a neat visitor this winter. A Road Runner roosted in a dead fern pot on the patio. We fed him mealworms and hamburger every night. I would post a picture, but this thread is for Orioles.

Put it in the Daily Pics thread Mima!

Your place sounds wonderful!

This message was edited Apr 28, 2008 6:42 PM

I do have a feeder with nectar, orange and jelly in it, but I spotted this one in the apple tree in neighbors yard across the road from the back yard. I saw at least 1 other male and possibly a female. It was to far away to be sure, but it did follow the males.

This message was edited Apr 28, 2008 7:51 PM

I wish we had an apple tree. So many birds seem to like them. We just have a decorative crabapple and I don't think that's at all the same!

Enjoy your Oriole visitors! Sounds like fun!

I know. We talked about planting one but I don't really want to draw the deer in with that. I like watching them across the road eating THEIR apples! lol

Oh, yes, those old darn deer. Forgot about that!

The orioles were all over the place for a couple of weeks, then just as I buy that feeder and come here to ask the question, I rarely see them. What would run them off? Do they migrate? I thought we had them here all summer last year?

They do migrate but should be around your area and surrounding states for the summer.

Is there any kind of jelly feeder that will shield the jelly from rain? With rain every other day or two I am very frustrated and wasting a lot of jelly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, there are the feeders with the clear plastic tops for meal worms...that would keep the grape jelly out of the rain too.

I did read somewhere of someone who diluted the grape jelly with water and her orioles loved it....

We had a bit of sprinkles today and it is cold-62' but this is the first rain that has fallen in my yard all year. Sure wish I had some of that "rain problem" LOL!

I would gladly send you some! I would like things to dry out a little.

I had a different Oriole at the feeder this morning. I am hoping one of you more experienced O's fans can help me out. It was a female, I believe, more yellow than orange, which would lead me to think it was an Orchard Oriole, but it had a very distinct, very large solid black patch on its throat. That distinct black patch is not shown in my "Birds of Missouri", which at this point is my only ID book.