Handbook of Nature-Study · Lesson XXX · Topic 2: Bird study: birds to know
30. The oriole
Goal: Your child can describe the oriole's hanging, woven nest and the bright orange-and-black male and plainer female, and recognize the oriole's whistled song.
You'll need
- Binoculars
- Tall shade trees (elms, maples, cottonwoods, sycamores) along a road, park or river
- Short bits (2 to 3 inches) of natural yarn or cotton string, optional
- Orange and black colored pencils
- Nature notebook
What's in the book
The leading thought, the method (begin in winter with a nest from the roadside elms; questions about the birds in early May, summed up once a week) and twelve questions about where the nest hangs, its shape, materials and lining, the colors of the male and his mate, who builds, the songs, the young, food, and migration. A poem by James Russell Lowell follows.
The lesson, step by step
When and where
Comstock starts in winter, when the hanging, pouch-shaped nests show at the tips of bare branches, and watches for the birds in early May. Baltimore orioles live in the East; the Bullock's oriole in the West. Look high in big shade trees, often near water.
Keep the big idea in mind
Read this to yourself:
The oriole is the most skillful of all our bird architects. It is also one of our prized song birds and is very beneficial to the farmer and fruit grower because of the insect pests which it destroys.
The nest (winter)
Find a nest with binoculars and look at it where it hangs.
Where did you find the nest? On what species of tree? Was it near the trunk of the tree or the tip of the branch?
What is the shape of the nest?
Comstock's children collected nests from the elms. Today the law protects the nests of wild birds, so draw and study the nest in the tree.
How was it woven?
With what tool was the nest woven?
If you put out bright colored bits of ribbon and string do you think the orioles will use them? Why should you not put out long strings?
If you want to try, cut short pieces of natural string or yarn, no longer than your finger, and drape them on a shrub in spring. Long strings can tangle around a bird's legs or neck.
The birds (May)
At what date did you first see the Baltimore oriole?
Describe in the following way the colors of the male oriole: top of head, back, wings, tail, throat, breast, under parts. What are the colors of his mate?
How would it endanger the nest and nestlings if the mother bird were as bright colored as the father bird?
The song
What is the oriole's song? Has he more than one song? What other notes has he?
The song is a rich whistle; the female's call is a dry chatter.
Put it into words
Ask your child how an oriole nest is different from a robin's. Then share the leading thought.
Nature notebook
Draw the hanging nest on its twig, and the male oriole beside it in orange and black. Write the date you first heard him sing.
Afterwards
In June, if you know where a nest hangs, Comstock asks: "listen and describe the call of the nestlings for food." Watch nests only from a distance, never touch or take a nest or eggs (that is against the law for most wild birds in the United States), and back away if the parents scold.
Tip
Orioles love orange halves and grape jelly put out in spring. It's an easy way to bring them close.