While many people are aware of the attraction of cut oranges for orioles, like this Hooded Oriole, the biggest attraction to keep orioles coming to your feeding station is Grape Jelly. Everyone knows hummingbirds can’t resist sugar-water nectar offered in a red feeder, and a higher perch provides a better view of the hummingbirds for you (photos by Paul Konrad). Some orioles will utilize sugar-water nectar, but orioles need a larger-sized opening in the feeding ports – they have larger beaks than hummers. However, even though this specialized oriole feeder had larger holes in the feeding ports, this male Orchard Oriole and others preferred to feed on Grape Jelly. Photo 4 – What species of female oriole is this? Female Orchard Orioles will add a totally different plumage color to the birds attracted to your oriole feeders.

We think the arrival of hummingbirds and orioles in our yard each year is one of the biggest joys of birding! The first morning we see an oriole at our feeding station is so exciting because we know the numbers of birds will increase that day, and over the following week or 10 days there will be a virtual parade of these colorful, fun to watch birds outside our picture window. The same goes for hummingbirds, and when 2 species of orioles and 1 species of hummingbirds combine – with different plumages obvious between males and females, and even yearling orioles, it’s a colorful thrill a moment, guaranteed.

But looking back, there was a time when we didn’t provide the right foods to attract orioles, and we rarely ever saw one in our neighborhood. That changed dramatically, like the flick of a switch, when we learned that providing orange halves, and more importantly – Grape Jelly – created a feeding station attraction that orioles used as a spring migration stopover refueling site, but some stayed in our yard and neighborhood the rest of spring and summer into September, nesting in nearby trees, bringing new fledglings to our feeders – what a change! What an annual thrill!

While we can’t guarantee that by following our lead that you will get similar results, but it’s sure worth a try. And there is no time to spare; orioles and hummingbirds are on their way to your yard now! While we have provided the information about how to attract orioles and hummingbirds in recent issues of The Birding Wire, we are devoting this article especially to Attracting and Keeping hummingbirds and orioles coming to your yard and feeding station.

Don’t Delay

Hummingbirds and orioles sometimes arrive the same day, but always during the same couple days in our northern latitude. Of course, the key to attracting these birds is to have their preferred foods ready and waiting days before they migrate into your area. Don’t wait until you see a hummingbird to put out your nectar feeder; fill at least one nectar feeder with the magic sugar-water mixture of 1 part white sugar to 4 parts water and position it outside your favorite viewing window to make your feeder the preferred place to be for hummers.

Like hummingbirds, even though there are a number of species of orioles found east, west, and southwest, they are all attracted to the same foods. For orioles, oranges sliced in half provide the color and fruit that attracts orioles to your feeding station pronto. Just as hummingbirds are attracted to the color red, the color orange is a visual clue for orioles to check for nutritious food. But we have found that after the orange color attracts the orioles, they zero in on the most attractive oriole food of all – Grape Jelly, which is the food of kings among the orioles in our area – both Baltimore Orioles and Orchard Orioles.

There is a third food some orioles will utilize too: Sugar-water nectar, just like the nectar mixture you make for hummingbirds. However, orioles need a bigger hole in the feeding ports to access the nectar; hence there are specialized oriole nectar feeders available that are even colored orange to attract orioles. However, the orioles that visit our feeding station rarely feed on nectar. Actually, they don’t feed on oranges much after the first week either; but they feed voraciously on grape jelly throughout spring and summer, and we are convinced that grape jelly is what attracts orioles to stay and nest in our neighborhood. Of course, you must be diligent in keeping your feeders stocked with jelly every day.

Our seasonal goal is to attract the birds, and hope they will spend the rest of spring and summer in our yard or neighborhood, nesting and raising young, and that means keeping our feeding station well-stocked, refilling feeders before they are empty, and keeping our feeders clean. As always, we keep fresh water available for drinking and bathing too. That’s all simple, especially considering the rewards are great: Having these special birds in your company daily, and knowing you are helping them during their critical nesting season when populations reproduce.

Of course, orioles and hummingbirds also consume considerable amounts of protein in the form of insects and insect larvae – caterpillars. In fact, when hummingbirds come to our nectar feeder, they first check for any small flying insects to catch on the wing, and similarly, orioles first grab any ants or other bugs in the area of the oriole feeder. They are providing a service to your yard too, in that you will see them gleaning insects and caterpillars from tree leaves and other vegetation, which is part of the fun of observing these birds. And if you can find an oriole nest, that can make observing the activities there a second point of interest beyond your feeding station.

The sugar to water mixture for hummingbirds and orioles – 1 part white sugar to 4 parts water – is very similar to the sugar content of the nectar produced by flowers that hummingbirds and orioles favor. In addition to attracting hummingbirds to your yard by providing sugar-water nectar in a feeder, they will also collect nectar from flower gardens and potted flowering plants. Hummingbirds are most attracted to red tubular flowers, which produce the highest sugar content in their nectar, followed by pink, orange, and yellow tubular flowers; so keep that in mind when selecting and planting flowering plants.

During peak migration stopover periods there may be a dozen Baltimore Orioles and a half-dozen Orchard Orioles using our feeding station; and a few pairs remain after others continue north. The same can be true for species of hummingbirds, and for a number of other species that our landscaping attracts – Gray Catbirds, American Robins, Yellow Warblers, Hairy Woodpeckers, and more. And that’s the start of a rewarding late spring and summer filled with the activities and songs of a variety of birds. Ah, the songs of orioles fill our dreams as we await the first orioles of spring. Are you ready for the arrival of orioles and hummingbirds in your yard?

To learn more about the variety of oriole and hummingbird species found in areas of the United States and Canada, you can start with All About Birds to see the wintering and summer ranges of each species, and listen to their songs at Bullock's Oriole Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology And for a more immersive look at these and other species, check in to Birds of the World at Orchard Oriole - Icterus spurius - Birds of the World both available to you from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Share your backyard birding experiences and photographs with The Birding Wire at editorstbw2@gmail.com

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Captions:

Photo 1 – While many people are aware of the attraction of cut oranges for orioles, like this Hooded Oriole, the biggest attraction to keep orioles coming to your feeding station is Grape Jelly.

Photo 2 – Everyone knows hummingbirds can’t resist sugar-water nectar offered in a red feeder, and a higher perch provides a better view of the hummingbirds for you (photos by Paul Konrad).

Photo 3 – Some orioles will utilize sugar-water nectar, but orioles need a larger-sized opening in the feeding ports – they have larger beaks than hummers. However, even though this specialized oriole feeder had larger holes in the feeding ports, this male Orchard Oriole and others preferred to feed on Grape Jelly.

Photo 4 – What species of female oriole is this? Female Orchard Orioles will add a totally different plumage color to the birds attracted to your oriole feeders.