BackyardBirds
It has long been said that black oil sunflower seed is the food of choice for goldfinches. There is one thing that these true seed-eaters like better than black oil sunflower seed, though, and that is nyjer—or more colloquially, thistle seed.
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There comes a time each year, when the bird feeding station transforms slightly, and things get just a bit brighter! In preparation for the return of my neotropical migrating birds, I put away the Zick Dough and a couple of the suet feeders, and replace them with some oranges. Yes—oranges, as in the sweet citrus fruits! Usually this happens around the end of April. My beautiful Bullock’s Orioles return sometime during the first week of May, so I like to be prepared for them!
But it is not just the Orioles who love to eat oranges. Au contraire! Many other feeder birds enjoy their delicious, sweet pulp. Yes, right here in the United States—in the mountain west of Wyoming—I have backyard birds who love eating oranges! Most likely, you do too! Today, I thought I would share with you some of the backyard birds that are attracted to oranges. After you read my list, perhaps you will decide to add some Oranges to your summer bird feeding station, as well!
Orioles are beautiful, tropical-looking birds. They fly to south america for winter, and then return again each spring. They are renowned for loving oranges (and grape jelly)! The Bullock’s Orioles are our most frequent flyers, and they have bright orange plumage with black details, and a very distinctive cackle. They frequent the oranges from late may and to july, then less frequently once they begin tending to nestlings.
There are a few different Orioles found in the Unites States. If you are on the east coast, then you probably have Baltimore Orioles. If you are in the west, then you probably have Bullock’s Orioles. In between, you might encounter an Orchard Oriole. And if you live in California or the desert southwest, you might become acquainted with a Hooded Oriole. Regardless of what kind of oriole you have in your area, one of their favorite snacks, especially during migration time, is oranges!
As I mentioned earlier, here in Wyoming, we have mainly Bullock’s Orioles, but this year I also had an Orchard Oriole stopping by for some sweet citrus, and much to my excitement, a hybrid Bullock’s x Baltimore Oriole. I occasionally put out grape jelly and other fruits, but oranges, cut in half, are by far the favorite among my orioles. They will always choose oranges, evne when given a spread of multiple choices included other fruits, jellies & jams, and nectar.
Another neotropical migrant found at orange feeders are tanagers. We have only one regular variety of tanager out here in Wyoming—the Western Tanager. Western Tanagers are actually the birds that sparked my interest in offering oranges at my bird feeding station, in the first place! Here’s the story: One morning, Hunter told me we had some sort of bigger goldfinches or something at the feeder—birds with orange faces. Of course, he was who spotted the new birds, and so could only guess what they might have been. He left the house and I eventually decided that, perhaps he was referring to an orange-colored oriole? I cut an orange in half and went and stuck it on our shepherds hook. By the time I got into the house and looked out the kitchen window, a male Western Tanager had already begun eating the oranges! Of course I had to call him and inform him that goldfinches, definitely don’t have RED heads!
And so, if you live in an area with tanagers, you may be able to attract them to your feeding station with orange halves, or other fruit. Mine also enjoy eating apples, and different types of jams & jellies. P.S.—A pair of Bullock’s Orioles quickly caught on to the oranges, shortly after the western tanagers did.
On occasion, much to my delight and surprise, a Lazuli Bunting will come in and nibble on the oranges. When I first noticed them, I thought perhaps they were eating some sort of fruit fly or insect. But nope, these handsome blue boys are stopping by for beak fulls of delicious orange pulp, too! This is especially surprising, since their normally preferred food is white proso millet!
House Finches also adore the oranges. In fact, I consider them the most frequent flyers at the orange feeders. They simply cannot get enough! While orioles and tanagers start stopping by for the oranges in spring, the house finches continue stopping by all throughout summer. I especially love when I start seeing little finch families stopping by the orange halves—they teach them young! (The bird in the cover photo for this post is actually a fledgling house finch, who caught on to the deliciousness of oranges right away.)
The Grosbeaks are another bird species that shows more interest in the oranges come summertime. I have heard some folks can attract Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks to their orange feeders, but I have only managed to attract the Black-Headed Grosbeaks to mine. They are beautifully colored birds with chunky beaks and while they prefer the bird seed, every once in a while, they sit and gobble up orange for a spell. Grosbeaks also like grape jelly and apples, but like Orioles, they seem to prefer oranges, above all!
There are several other birds you may be able to attract to your feeding station with oranges, including: catbirds, thrashers, and various types of wood peckers. We have catbirds here, but they stay in the relatively thick cover of our tree belt or the dense thickets along the river. I have never seen one venture over to our actual yard. I have heard other folk on social media mention that they have brown thrashers or mockingbirds stopping by to eat fruit at their bird feeding stations; neither of which are very common species in my are. Red-Bellied Woodpeckers and Downy Woodpeckers also partake in oranges, if you have them in your yard during summer; I don’t. If I’m missing any orange-eating birds, please share them with us, below, by leaving a comment! What birds do you have visiting your yard to eat oranges or other fruit offerings you provide?
Now that you are convinced that you should incorporate oranges in your bird feeding station this summer, to attract new birds and increase the variety of backyard birds visiting you, let me tell you how simple it is.
You can poke them on the hook ends of shepherds hooks holding your bird feeders. You can poke them on visible trees or shrubs or snags. You can set them on your deck railing, a platform feeder, or an old stump. You can make a DIY Orange feeder using a block of scrap wood and some nails or screws—just be sure to use a nail or screw to hold each orange, and one below as a perch. Or you can purchase any number of different orange bird feeders. No matter how you present the oranges, you just need to make sure you are placing them in a visible spot, and keeping the oranges fresh. Birds, in passing, or flying from treetop to treetop, should be able to see your oranges. During spring when the weather is a bit cooler, you can get better mileage from your oranges. For me, they will last about two days before they are dried or gobbled up. When the heat of summer sets in, they really need to be changed out daily. Once they start getting dry and dehydrated, the birds lose interest.
So, there you have it—diversify your bird feeding station by rolling out some oranges! Attract new, different, and brightly-colored birds to your yard. Have fun with it, and remember, like all things bird feeding related, be patient!
In the sunshine of a Spring day, in early May, if I’m lucky, a bird unlike any of the others might pay me a visit. They come in a flash of bright orange that is so unlike what my eyes have been seeing all Winter, that I have to double take. Of course, usually by that time, they are on to me and take off! I stare longingly out the window for what feels like ages, waiting for them to come back, before I must continue on with my day and hope my offerings were good enough to keep them coming back for more.
Truthfully, I usually end up in a frenzy—grabbing extra oranges, grapefruits, clementines, or even apples from my produce drawer, and any jam or jelly I might have. Sure, there’s already oranges out there, but I want my yard to be a veritable buffet of sweet treats so they don’t decide the neighbor’s house looks more promising! I cut the sweet citrus fruits in half and skewer them up on tree branches and shepherds hooks, and stick grape jelly out in a little glass bowl on my deck railing. I go inside with fingers crossed and bated breath, and try to busy myself for a while. Within 20 minutes, I’m peaking out the window, again, and to my absolute delight, there is not just one, but TWO male Bullock’s Orioles, sampling the goods! YES!
Through the years, I have learned a few things about attracting orioles to my backyard. It requires a little bit of extra planning and preparation, but it is entirely worth the nominal extra effort to have such exquisite company! Today, I wanted to share some Tips for Attracting Orioles and Feeding Orioles with you, so that you may enjoy their sunshiney company on a spring day, as well!
Many birds at a traditional bird feeding station happily eat seeds. Some birds, like American Goldfinches, eat seeds almost exclusively. Orioles are nothing like these finches and sparrows. They like eating FRUIT, NECTAR, and INSECTS. In fact, I have never seen an oriole even try eating a black oil sunflower seed—they just don’t.
Orioles spend half the year, from like September to March, overwintering in Central & South America. While they are down there, they eat a variety of fruits and insects, flowers and nectar. So when they are on their journey north, they will be looking for delicious fruits to fuel their travels, along with nectar and insects.
FRUIT—This is the easiest food to offer your Orioles—it doesn’t even require a special feeder. They are naturally attracted to the color orange and, in my yard, oranges always seem to be their preferred snack. I have two actual orange feeders, hanging at my feeding station, one homemade and one store-bought. They basically have perches and skewers that hold your fruit halves. But up until last year, I never even used a feeder. I would simply slice oranges (or grapefruits or clementines) in half and poke them on the ends of the shepherd’s hooks holding my feeders, or at the ends of tree branches.
If you are only going to do one thing to attract orioles to your yard, put out their favorite fruit—oranges!
JELLY—Another source of “fruit” you can offer the orioles is in the form of jellies, jams, and marmalades. Contrary to popular belief, orioles (and other fruit-eating neotropical migrants) will eat more than just grape jelly. Maybe concord grape jelly is their preferred, but last year, when I ran out of storebought grape jelly, I put out some plum jam and orange marmalade, and they gobbled it up. If you are offering jelly, you can use whatever inexpensive grape jelly the store has—I would advise you to avoid anything that is sugar free or made with artificial sweeteners like xylitol or aspartame, though.
NECTAR—Orioles will often alight hummingbird feeders looking for a source of quick energy from the sugar water or “nectar” as we call it. Unfortunately, their beaks are often too large to access the holes on a hummingbird feeder. You can offer them the same sugar water solution you mix up for your hummingbirds in a specially-made Oriole Nectar Feeder—a 4:1 water: sugar solution. Oriole Nectar Feeders that have orange on them are often the most attractive. Like hummingbird feeders, these need to be kept clean. You may also notice orioles visiting your flowers for nectar—I’ve heard some gardeners report them eating the flower, petals, nectar, & all!
INSECTS—Once nesting begins, I find the orioles seemingly disappear. Their diet switches from being full of fruit to being more protein-based—they need insects to raise a healthy generation of fledglings. I have been largely unsuccessful with offering dried meal worms, but you may be able to lure them in by offering live mealworms. Or better yet, plant some native plants in your yard, that host native insects and caterpillars, and you will be helping future generations of all sorts of birds, for years to come, even if you can’t see the results up close at your feeding station.
*On the rainiest, crappiest days of spring, on occasion, I have seen my orioles eat from the Suet feeders—although, I don’t feel that this is their preferred food of choice.
Seriously! When it comes to Orioles, you will have the best chance of success if you catch their attention during spring migration, when they are winging their way north for the summer breeding season. This time will vary depending on where you live in the United States or Canada. Generally speaking, the closer the South America you live, the earlier they will pass through your neighborhood on their journey north. Orioles, like other neotropical migrant birds, overwinter in Central and South America. They start heading northward in March, so the more southern your location is, the earlier you are likely to see them. Here in Wyoming, I don’t see them until about the first week of May. If you would like to track the first sightings of Orioles, to try and guess when they may be arriving in your neck of the woods, you can use the website Journey North. If you like the kind of information on this website, be sure to Register for an account, and submit your First Sightings, as well.
The key to attracting orioles during spring migration, is having foods they prefer outside BEFORE they arrive. I start putting out orange slices around April 25th—10 days before their usual return, that way, even if they get back a little early, I am ready for them. Readiness is key, here. If they pass through your neighborhood and there’s nothing they want, they may just continue on their merry way. The years I have been able to successfully attract orioles to my yard, I have been ready with oranges, before their return.
In addition to being much more shy than my other birds, orioles seem to hop from tree top to tree top. Therefore, if you are going to attract them to your yard, you need to have tall trees nearby and you need to place whatever nectar or jelly or fruit feeders you are offering them in their line of sight. If your oranges are under eaves or tight to the underside of a tree canopy, they will have a much harder time finding them. I try to put oranges right out in the open like a big billboard, advertising that they should swoop down from the treetops HERE!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Birds love bird baths! Many birds that don’t even eat at your feeding station will stop by for a drink of water or a bath. Orioles are especially attracted to moving water so a bubbler or fountain will make your birdbath even more attractive to them.
Don’t be discouraged if you don’t get an oriole this year! Some folks try for a couple years before they can attract one! And your efforts may help to lure in another neotropical migrating bird, like a grosbeak or a tanager. In fact, the first year I tried to attract an oriole to my yard, I actually ended up with a delightful flock of Western Tanagers! I wasn’t expecting the adorable redheads to stop by, but I was pleasantly surprised to have them. I have also had many Black-Headed Grosbeaks stop by for a beakful of jelly.
So, if the orioles don’t find your house this year, try again next year! And if they do find your house this spring, keep the goodies stocked for them. If they clean out your oranges and you don’t replenish the supply for another two weeks, they will likely not be returning. Birds love consistency, and if you are not consistent in providing them with food, they will move along. In my garden, come summer, there is a time when the orioles seem to quit stopping by—at which point, I will scale back on the amount of fruit I am putting out. Then I begin scanning the tree tops for there pendulous, woven nests. In winter, I can spot them fairly easy, but in summer, as the trees are leafed out, it is such a challenge!
You absolutely do not need fancy, specialty feeders to attract Orioles to your yard, but I do have one from Kettle Moraine, that I love! Their feeders are made from recycled milk jugs, which is terrific, and they are a smaller, family-owned manufacturer. They sell many products on Amazon. They ship promptly and I am always happy with the quality and consistency of their feeders.
