I’ve noted recently that orange-halves on the porch railing for orioles were disappearing — not just pushed off the railing into the grass below. I assumed crows. But this afternoon I came across one of the oranges impaled on a hawthorn spike near the forrest edge, and I later saw a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak feeding on the orange. A few hours later, pausing while mowing the lawn, I saw a male B. Oriole knock an orange off the porch railing onto the ground, dislodging some hungry black ants in the process; then the oriole proceeded, with some comic difficulty, to convey the orange half into the hawthorn/buckthorn grove, and then to secure the orange onto a stout thorn. Very soon after, a female oriole arrived and had an orange meal — courtesy of Wegman’s.
I’ve not seen this behavior before, but I like it. From now on, I’m going to spike my oranges on hawthorns. Eben -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
