By Jim Knox
A blaze of orange burst from the greenery of the canopy. With its darting flight, the bird was only visible for a moment but in that moment, we were treated to a welcome, and unmistakable sight of spring. Along with a small cohort of bird watchers, I recently walked the grounds of Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo and explored adjacent historic Beardsley Park in search of birds—and this species in particular.
Icterus galbula, the Baltimore Oriole, also known as the Northern Oriole, is a species recognized at a glance and not easily forgotten. With males sporting a jet-black head and back, black wings with bold white wing bars, and flame orange sides and rump, these birds grab our attention. Females and immature birds are muted versions of the males, with a highly variable combination of black, brown, white and yellow-gold.
To me, the Baltimore Oriole’s appearance has always been synonymous with the arrival of the first warm, bud-bursting days of spring. The birds add their colors to the palette of blooms and blossoms. Their timing is no coincidence. As fruit, nectar and insect eaters, Baltimore Orioles time their migration from northern South America, Central America, and southern Mexico to coincide with the feast hanging from seemingly every branch in New England.
Named for Lord George Calvert, the first Baron of Baltimore, the bird’s colors of black and gold mirror those of Lord Baltimore’s coat of arms. This association continued with the family’s role as the first governing family of the Maryland colony and extends to the present, with the bird’s status as the Maryland State Bird. These brilliantly colored birds can often be coaxed out of the greenery with fruit—orange is a favorite and nectar. The oriole’s unusual yet effective strategy of feeding known as gaping, serves it well. The bird stabs its sharp, pointed beak directly into the flesh of a fruit, opens its beak, and uses its tongue to funnel the fluid and drink the fruit nectar. When they’re not feeding on fruit, these members of the blackbird family are voracious insect and spider hunters, even eating many species such as Tent caterpillars, Webworms, and Gypsy moth caterpillars, which are distasteful and toxic to many birds. They will even repeatedly smash caterpillars, to dislodge their protective spines, before consuming the soft bodied prey. With a high metabolism, orioles can eat insects at a good clip, with one Bullock’s Oriole (a western relative) gobbling down 45 grasshoppers in one day! For a bird which reaches 6.5-8.5 inches in length, and rarely tops 1.5 ounces (the weight of a pencil), this is impressive.
What’s more impressive, the oriole is a remarkable pollinator, spreading pollen from tree to tree and forest tract to forest tract, as it eats nectar from flowers. This single quality marks the oriole as a species both contributing to reforestation and requiring conservation. Yet admiration for these birds extends to their music and even their feats of engineering. Females are believed to be able to identify their mate by the unique accents of their beautiful flute-like whistling song and their nests are universally regarded as wonders of natural construction.
These basket-like nests are woven and tended by female orioles. Constructed of plant fiber, grasses, and vine, they are placed on the ends of branches typically 20-45 aloft and safe from the majority of predators. Some more elaborate nests contain approximately 10,000 stitches, with knots tied by single female with her beak alone! In fact, the nests are so well constructed, many withstand New England winters, requiring only moderate maintenance the following spring. Though today these nests frequently feature human materials such as yarn, in the late 1800s these nests were constructed almost entirely of thin, strong horsehair.
Creatures of two worlds, orioles and their cousins, the vivid tanagers and warblers are known as neotropical migrants for their seasonal migrations between the tropics of Central and South America, and our temperate New England forests. Bringing their color and song to Connecticut every spring, they bring something else too—their unmatched natural ability as insect control agents. Far more effective and discerning than our usage of pesticides, which harm and kill countless beneficial species, including the birds themselves, these insect-munching pollinating neighbors get the job done.
These beautiful birds and their close cousins earned the name “oriole” derived from Latin, “aureolus” or “golden” and nothing could be more fitting. As these golden birds flit from branch to branch, they spread color, pollen, and wonder.
