Baltimore Oriole

This beautiful bird is a backyard favorite of many birders. It's easily identified by its bright orange color, clear whistle song, and its love of oranges, grape jelly and other berries. This migrant is seen around Missouri during the spring and will nest in the area if the habitat is correct. 

Male Baltimore Oriole with orange picture courtesy of Grace C and All About Birds

Baltimore Orioles winter in Florida down through Central America to northern South America and are one of the earlier migrants back to the US. They can be seen migrating from April through May, and breed from the southern states just over the border into Canada.

Range map courtesy of All About Birds

Baltimore Orioles eat insects, fruits and nectar. In early spring Orioles are easily attracted to backyard bird feeders by using sliced oranges, grapes, sugar water and small amounts of grape jelly. Be careful not to put too much jelly out though, this can be dangerous to all birds because it can make their feathers stick together and is difficult to clean off.

Male Baltimore Oriole with orange picture courtesy of Winston Poon and All About Birds

Not only are they beautiful, but they are also amazing engineers. They weave hanging nests out of grass commonly in American Elm, Cottonwood or Maple trees. Their nest hang below a branch, typically starting from a fork in the branch. Males will typically bring nesting material but only the female weaves the sock-like nest. Building materials may consist of grass, grapevine bark strips, wool, and horsehair, in addition to synthetic fibers like cellophane, twine, or fishing line.

Baltimore Orioles typically have one brood of 3-7 eggs per nesting season. Nestlings fledge 11-14 days after hatching

Oriole nest with nestling picture courtesy of the St. Louis Audubon

Oriole eggs picture courtesy of the Field Museum of New Hampshire

The Baltimore Oriole's song is a loud, clear whistle with a repetitive chatter call that they can use if they are sounding alarm or trying to attract neighboring Orioles. Males may also beat their wings loudly in flight during the breeding season to create a drumming sound.

Video courtesy of Happy PonyTail on Youtube

The Baltimore Oriole's population has been declining by just less than 1% a year with a cumulative loss of 36% between 1966 and 2019. They are vulnerable to deforestation and habitat loss in both their breeding and wintering grounds, as well as loss of food sources to raise their young due to insecticides. They are considered low conservation concern. 

Orioles are one of my favorite spring birds. I love to hear their song on a bright day and am thrilled to see them at my feeder. I have been able to attract both Baltimore Orioles and occasionally their close relative, the Orchard Oriole, to my feeder.

Here are some picture of Orioles from my yard over the years. The first actually has both the Baltimore Oriole and Orchard Oriole in it from 2022.

Thank you for taking the time to read more about Baltimore Orioles. I hope you are also lucky enough to see these gorgeous birds in your yard or out on your walk.

Information from this blog post courtesy of All About Birds, St. Louis Audubon Society's Bird of the Week, Field Museum of New Hampshire, and Happy PonyTail on Youtube