Hooded Oriole

Mr and Mrs Oriole both made brief and predictable visits to the hummingbird feeder last year, often visible only as a brilliant yellow flash out of the corner of the eye. This year, while many of our regular bird visitors are otherwise occupied, these two can frequently be seen sitting amongst the bottlebrush 'flowers'. Today, in the pouring rain, they brought company…a pair of Bullock's Orioles. It took a visit to the bird book to sort that out, and I still don't see why the only oriole in the book without black on its head would be the hooded one, but that's probably why I'm not a serious twitcher….

There was a serious twitcher bird expert on the radio today, playing his recordings of bird calls and songs.  Our Northern Mockingbird mimics other birds, and, on some occasions car alarms, insects and amphibians in rapid succession. There was a mockingbird who favored a tree near our bedroom window one year, and we were far less charmed by his repertoire when we realized that it went on most of the night. The bird expert pointed out that the number of separate sounds, songs  and calls a mockingbird learns is an indicator of his seniority.  

When someone on the radio waxed rhapsodic about 'happy birdsong' the bird expert quickly pointed out they weren't happy at all but were dead serious...staking out their territory and notifying other birds in the area of their presence. Killjoy.

Regardless of their true intentions, birds are fascinating to watch, and one can't help thinking about how amazing it would be to know how to fly. Some birds, like crows seem to delight in flying, swooping and playing with each other in mid air, while others, like quail fly only if absolutely necessary, preferring to run along the ground. It is endearing to watch them hop down a flight of stairs, and downright delightful when they are followed by chicks who dutifully fling themselves off the step often landing rather haphazardly  on the step below.

They may be dead serious about what they are doing, but birds are endlessly entertaining to us.