The Female Oriole Weaves a Nest

Among the world's most accomplished nest-builders!

Not only are most orioles eye-catching, but they also rank among the world's most accomplished nest-builders. Female orioles - like the Baltimore Oriole seen here - weave nests that hang like pendants. You can spot these hanging nests most easily when the trees have lost their leaves. The female builds the nest in about a week, meticulously weaving long, flexible strands of grass - and adding in man-made materials she finds close at hand.

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Transcript:

BirdNote^®

The Female Oriole Weaves a Nest

Written by Bob Sundstrom

This is BirdNote!
[Bullock’s Oriole song]
In summer, across much of North America, a sudden flash of orange and black in the tree tops often means one thing: orioles. Baltimore Orioles in the East [Baltimore Oriole song], and Bullock’s Orioles in the West [Bullock’s Oriole song]. These vividly colored birds return each spring from Central America, and the glint of their orange feathers reminds us of the tropics. [Bullock’s Oriole song]
Baltimore and Bullock’s orioles are two of the twenty-seven species of orioles found in the Americas. Not only are most of these birds eye-catching, but they also rank among the world’s most accomplished nest-builders. With slender, sharply pointed bills, orioles weave nests that hang like pendants.
[Baltimore Oriole song]
You can spot these hanging nests most easily in the cooler months, when the trees have lost their leaves. The nest resembles a four-to-eight-inch woven pouch, suspended from a slender branch. The female builds it in about a week, meticulously weaving long, flexible strands of grass – and adding in man-made materials close at hand. Look carefully at an oriole’s nest and you may discover bits of yarn, twine, fishing line, and even a colorful ribbon the wind carried away from a backyard birthday party.
[Bullock’s Oriole song]
Can’t get out to see one right now? Then come to our website for some photos of these astonishingly beautiful songsters – and their nests! That’s birdnote.org. I’m Michael Stein. [Baltimore Oriole song]
###
Sounds of the birds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Song of the Bullock’s Oriole 125388 recorded by T.G. Sander; song of the Baltimore Oriole recorded by A.A. Allen.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2011 Tune In to Nature.org July 2011 Narrator: Michael Stein

ID# oriole-01-2011-07-07 orig: 071806BUOR2