Sunday, July 23, 2017

Something different

This is not a sewing post. How 'bout that? I just happened to see something that I thought was so interesting that I just had to show you.

Last night I saw several of what looked like young baltimore orioles trying to get grape jelly from my feeder. Some did well, but there was one that couldn't seem to figure out how to get to the jelly in the feeder. A bit later, one of the parents came, sat on the feeder, and fed that baby the jelly! I was amazed, as I'd never seen that happen before. I wasn't quick enough to catch them on camera, but this morning it happened again, and this time I got it! So cool!




Now I'm wondering just how those babies knew to come to the feeder in the first place. Did the parents bring them earlier, or is it instinctual that they just know to go to something orange???

5 comments:

Geneviève said...

Humm... I am wondering too. Maybe it's the smell of the jelly? I don't know much about birds, do they even have a good sense of smell? So many questions are going through my mind!

Those pictures are so lovely, thanks for sharing them, especially since I don't get to see those birds here in Quebec. :)

annie dee said...

I've not heard of anyone feeding jelly to birds except you but according to 'wild birds unlimited' it is a thing and orioles are one of the birds that love it along with orange halves, mealworms and nectar. There is even an "Oriole Feeder" specially designed to have a combination of feeding stations for all of those food types. So I've learned quite a things today: orioles like jelly and I might be the only one who didn't know that! Lovely photos of these beautiful birds too!

Grandma G said...

Geneviève... I think orioles are attracted to the color orange, just as hummingbirds are attracted to red. I don't know about their sense of smell. Anyway, thank you and you're welcome! 💕

Annie Dee... I'm always happy to be able to add something to your vast knowledge base! And thank you! 💕

Jenny said...

I also did not know that there were birds that like to eat grape jelly. How interesting! And these are some great shots of them. Were they there for very long?

On a mostly unrelated wildlife note, I saw 2 wild turkeys in a field today and I thought of you and George and his whole turkey clan.

Grandma G said...

Thanks, Jenny! They never stay at the feeder for very long at a time (like maybe a minute at the most), but I have seen them come back since for some more feeding of the young one.

Thankfully George and his crew are down in numbers, for whatever reason. There are only 6 or 7 now, and I haven't seen any new chicks at all this year (knock on wood).