Icterus bullockii

The Bullock's oriole is a neotropical songbird. It winters in Mexico and Central America. Spring migration brings it north to breed and summer in the United States.

It occupies a range that extends from the western edge of the Great Plains to the Pacific Coast and north from Mexico to the southern Canadian border.

Male Bullock's orioles have a bright orange body with a black cap, bib and eye streak. The wings are black with a large white wing bar. The bill is slender and pointed. Female orioles have an olive brown back and wings with a dull yellow face, throat and breast. There is a dusky line through the female oriole's eye.

They are very vocal birds, using a series of whistles, chatters, creaks and rattles. The vocalization often has a nasal call with a harsh scolding chatter tone.

These orioles are found in the tree canopy, especially along riparian zones with cottonwoods and willows. They can be attracted to the yard with offerings of suet, grape jelly, nectar feeders built for orioles and filled with sugar water (1:4), and slices of orange staked in a tree. Meal worms are another favorite treat for attracting orioles to the yard. Blossoms of the red-hot poker plant are a favorite of the oriole.

It builds a woven basket-shaped nest that hangs from the drooping ends of cottonwood, willow or similar tree branches. Tie locks of horse hair, short strands of wool, cotton or other natural material to a tree or shrub branch or stuffed in a suet basket. It will pick these materials when constructing its nest.

Newly hatched and helpless young are brooded by the female and fed by both sexes. They are often a host to cowbird parasitism.

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* BILL FENIMORE is owner of the Layton Wild Bird Center (www.wildbird.com/layton).