Mockingbird vs. oriole
I hung my oriole feeder and waited for the orioles to show up. And very soon a bird did show up. Wow, that is one funny looking oriole! Wait, that isn't an oriole! No, it is the boss of the backyard, the Northern Mockingbird . After a while, an Baltimore Oriole did actually come to investigate. This is a first year male who hasn't yet morphed into the gaudy orange and black feathers of the adult males. It didn't take him long to get around to checking out the feeder. This is a second sub-adult male enjoying one of the orange halves. So far, I've seen four or five orioles around the feeders and they have all been sub-adult males. I've concluded that most likely the mature adults have already passed through, maybe even before I got my feeder hung. Perhaps they were early this year, like everything else. The orioles are no match for this bossy mockingbird who has chased at least a couple of birds away from the feeder. He doesn't seem too interested in the oran...
