rk30+@andrew.cmu.edu (Ruth Kline) (05/25/91)
I hope you knowledgeable birders can help settle an argument I'm having with my sister. She just bought an oriole feeder, built on the same design as hummingbird feeders except the liquid is orange rather than red and this one has the design of orange slices on it. She claims the garden shop person who sold it to her said it would attract orioles, much like the hummer feeders attract hummers. My argument is that orioles do not eat by sucking nectar, as do hummers, and that this oriole feeder is just a money-making exploitation of well-meaning people. Given the fact that orioles *do* love oranges and are attracted to the feeder because of the orange color, will they really be able to suck out the man-made nectar inside? I definitely am puzzled by this and, though I've seen an oriole only once in my life, I believe the structure of their beeks would indicate that they are seed/insect eaters. Please set me straight on this!
tfisher@NPIRS.Purdue.EDU (Tom Fisher) (05/25/91)
From article <McDLHUy00WBN82mFUJ@andrew.cmu.edu>, by rk30+@andrew.cmu.edu (Ruth Kline): > I hope you knowledgeable birders can help settle > an argument I'm having with my sister. She just > bought an oriole feeder, built on the same design > as hummingbird feeders except the liquid is orange > rather than red and this one has the design of > orange slices on it. She claims the garden shop > person who sold it to her said it would attract > orioles, much like the hummer feeders attract > hummers. My argument is that orioles do not > eat by sucking nectar, as do hummers, and that > this oriole feeder is just a money-making > exploitation of well-meaning people. Given the > fact that orioles *do* love oranges and are > attracted to the feeder because of the orange > color, will they really be able to suck out > the man-made nectar inside? I definitely am > puzzled by this and, though I've seen an > oriole only once in my life, I believe the > structure of their beeks would indicate that > they are seed/insect eaters. Please set me > straight on this! A couple of years ago, someone gave me an oriole feeder such as you describe. I followed all the directions, hung the thing up from a tree branch, and waited - and waited - and waited. As far as I could tell, there never were any takers. The solution finally fermented and I threw the thing away. We do have Northern (I still prefer to call them "Baltimore") Orioles around but they simply were not attracted. That's my experience. -- ============================================================================== Tom Fisher tfisher@npirs.purdue.edu | "...if by chance we find each Phone (317) 494-6616 | other, it is beautiful." - F. Perls
pstevens@Metaphor.COM (Paul Stevens) (05/25/91)
In article <1991May24.213728.23714@NPIRS.Purdue.EDU>, tfisher@NPIRS.Purdue.EDU (Tom Fisher) writes: |> From article <McDLHUy00WBN82mFUJ@andrew.cmu.edu>, by rk30+@andrew.cmu.edu (Ruth Kline): |> > an argument I'm having with my sister. She just |> > bought an oriole feeder, built on the same design |> > as hummingbird feeders except the liquid is orange |> > rather than red and this one has the design of |> > orange slices on it. |> |> A couple of years ago, someone gave me an oriole feeder such as |> you describe. I followed all the directions, hung the thing |> up from a tree branch, and waited - and waited - and waited. As |> far as I could tell, there never were any takers. The solution |> finally fermented and I threw the thing away. We do have |> Northern (I still prefer to call them "Baltimore") Orioles around |> but they simply were not attracted. That's my experience. I have some friends who live in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mts in California. They say that the orioles there have feed from their hummer feeder. The orioles take off the insect protector from the feeder to better get their beaks in. I've also seen orioles feed from hummer feeders by "rocking" the feeder to get the juice to dribble out. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Paul Stevens {apple|decwrl}!metaphor!pstevens Metaphor Computer Systems pstevens@metaphor.com Mountain View, CA
sid@jato.jpl.nasa.gov (Sid Johnson WB6VWH) (05/25/91)
In article <1991May24.213728.23714@NPIRS.Purdue.EDU> tfisher@NPIRS.Purdue.EDU (Tom Fisher) writes: >From article <McDLHUy00WBN82mFUJ@andrew.cmu.edu>, by rk30+@andrew.cmu.edu (Ruth Kline): >> I hope you knowledgeable birders can help settle >> an argument I'm having with my sister. She just >> bought an oriole feeder, built on the same design >> as hummingbird feeders except the liquid is orange Orioles are often attracted to Hummingbird feeders. We have troubles sometimes with Orioles at our hummer feeders. I have heard many similar stories from others so it seems to be obvious that Orioles will and do suck nectar when they have the chance. As to a commercial feeder actually attracting them I would guess that if they are in the area the feeder might work, but I dont, have any personal experience to substantiate this. Sid Johnson
drintoul@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (David A Rintoul) (05/27/91)
Orioles do drink from nectar feeders often, my oriole feeder is really a hummingbird feeder (with regular non-colored sugar water), and the local orioles come to it and sip from the red-flowered tips quite often. I suspect that it is true that you don't need an "oriole feeder" per se, since a hummer feeder will do quite nicely. In that sense, the oriole feeder sold to your sister is probably a rip-off, but it should actually work (i.e. attract orioles). In Australia and New Zealand local bird-feeders actually fill long shallow trays with sugar water to attract the many species of honeyeaters that live there; I suspect that the same sort of device could attract our orioles as well.
weiler@gumby.mgi.com (05/28/91)
In article <714@cronos.metaphor.com>, pstevens@Metaphor.COM (Paul Stevens) writes: > In article <1991May24.213728.23714@NPIRS.Purdue.EDU>, tfisher@NPIRS.Purdue.EDU (Tom Fisher) writes: > |> From article <McDLHUy00WBN82mFUJ@andrew.cmu.edu>, by rk30+@andrew.cmu.edu (Ruth Kline): > |> > an argument I'm having with my sister. She just > |> > bought an oriole feeder, built on the same design > |> > as hummingbird feeders except the liquid is orange > |> > rather than red and this one has the design of > |> > orange slices on it. > |> > |> A couple of years ago, someone gave me an oriole feeder such as > |> you describe. I followed all the directions, hung the thing > |> up from a tree branch, and waited - and waited - and waited. As > |> far as I could tell, there never were any takers. The solution > |> finally fermented and I threw the thing away. We do have > |> Northern (I still prefer to call them "Baltimore") Orioles around > |> but they simply were not attracted. That's my experience. > > I have some friends who live in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mts > in California. They say that the orioles there have feed from their > hummer feeder. The orioles take off the insect protector from the feeder > to better get their beaks in. I've also seen orioles feed from hummer > feeders by "rocking" the feeder to get the juice to dribble out. > > +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ > > Paul Stevens {apple|decwrl}!metaphor!pstevens > Metaphor Computer Systems pstevens@metaphor.com > Mountain View, CA I received an oriole feeder as a gift, filled and hung it, and the next day we had two oriole pairs taking turns at the feeder. They drained three cups in nectar on the second day!! Their visits have slowed down, maybe due to other duties like nesting. We still get occasional males and females. Our yard lies along the Mississippi River north of Mpls/St. Paul, so we have a better than average place for attracting birds. (We also get bluebirds, goldfinches, herons and bald eagles.)
grp@Unify.com (Greg Pasquariello) (05/29/91)
In article <714@cronos.metaphor.com>, pstevens@Metaphor.COM (Paul Stevens) writes: > > In article <1991May24.213728.23714@NPIRS.Purdue.EDU>, tfisher@NPIRS.Purdue.EDU (Tom Fisher) writes: > |> From article <McDLHUy00WBN82mFUJ@andrew.cmu.edu>, by rk30+@andrew.cmu.edu (Ruth Kline): > |> > an argument I'm having with my sister. She just > |> > bought an oriole feeder, built on the same design > |> > as hummingbird feeders except the liquid is orange > |> > rather than red and this one has the design of > |> > orange slices on it. > |> > |> A couple of years ago, someone gave me an oriole feeder such as > |> you describe. I followed all the directions, hung the thing > |> up from a tree branch, and waited - and waited - and waited. As > |> far as I could tell, there never were any takers. The solution > |> finally fermented and I threw the thing away. We do have > |> Northern (I still prefer to call them "Baltimore") Orioles around > |> but they simply were not attracted. That's my experience. > > I have some friends who live in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mts > in California. They say that the orioles there have feed from their > hummer feeder. The orioles take off the insect protector from the feeder > to better get their beaks in. I've also seen orioles feed from hummer > feeders by "rocking" the feeder to get the juice to dribble out. > Last year, I had to replace my Hummer feeders with a different design. The orioles would clean it out in about 5 hours!!! Guess where I live! Georgetown California, heart of the Sierra Nevada foothills! > +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ > > Paul Stevens {apple|decwrl}!metaphor!pstevens > Metaphor Computer Systems pstevens@metaphor.com > Mountain View, CA -- --- Greg Pasquariello grp@unify.com Unify Corporation Be good and never poison people
andrewt@cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor) (05/29/91)
In article <1991May27.163904.25487@maverick.ksu.ksu.edu> drintoul@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (David A Rintoul) writes: > In Australia and New Zealand local bird-feeders actually fill long shallow > trays with sugar water to attract the many species of honeyeaters that live > there; I suspect that the same sort of device could attract our orioles ... Given the opportunity, honeyeaters will quite readily use hummingbird feeders (which aren't available here). Feeding honeyeaters is uncommon here. Much more popular is planting flowering shrubs, such as Grevilleas, which attract honeyeaters. Certainly a better approach for honeyeaters, dunno about orioles. Andrew Taylor
john@nmt.edu (John Shipman) (05/29/91)
Yup, in California the orioles will attack hummingbird feeders. I used to have a feeder in Cupertino (just west of San Jose in the south San Francisco Bay area), and "Bullock's" (Northern) Orioles would visit it. One morning I was just waking up, and hadn't put my glasses on yet, but it seemed to me that the fuzzy orange blob I could see on my feeder was too big and too orange to be a Bullock's Oriole. I put my glasses on and confirmed that it was indeed a male Hooded Oriole, the only lifer I've ever gotten (a) without my glasses on, and (b) before I got out of bed in the morning. -- John Shipman/Zoological Data Processing/Socorro, NM/john@jupiter.nmt.edu ``Let's go outside and commiserate with nature.'' --Dave Farber