I forgot to mention today that I really like your analysis here. You sent me
to my book. I really did not think about my oriole here until you mentioned
the Baltimore. I just assumed it was Bullocks, but am sure it is now. I will
pay more attention. I am sure there is a nest just below our house in the oak
tree. We have Lazuli Buntings calling frequently as well and a MOURNING DOVE!
So the Eurasian Collared Dove has not displaced our Mourning Dove, thank you
very much.
Sent from Windows Mail
From: Matthew G Hunter
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2015 9:21 PM
To: umpquabirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, obol
Hi Folks,
Just getting to uploading some photos/sound of the Baltimore Oriole.
Fishermen, birders, and people of all generations have loved to tell stories.
Here's mine: I was in the house looking over my morning house fix-it project
when I heard some loud single and repeated (4 or 5 times), rich, descending
notes. As they "sunk in," they did not match anything in my metal sound
database. Oriole? Tanager? I get excited when I hear something I do not
recognize for certain, so I grabbed my bins and camera and headed out the door.
The bird calls had already moved south a hundred yards to the border of our
property. I walked quickly to our fence, hoping it would be there. When I got
there, it was calling another 50 yards to the south. I scanned and scanned. I
could not see it. The calls were fairly simple, so I began imitating them with
my own whistles. In just 10 seconds the bird flew back north to the tree
canopies above me. As I continued to imitate the bird now and then, it seemed
to try to find me, though not coming far down from the upper canopy. Finally I
was able to see the bird in my bins and obtain some photos--with shaky
hands--and a voice recording with my cell phone. The bird mostly did the single
and repeated (4 or 5) notes, and only a couple times did a bit of a fuller
song. Eventually, it again flew south to the next patch of trees, and I did not
want to bother it again. I have not been able to look for the bird again.
Photos:https://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewghunter/sets/72157653211355319
Sound Recording: www.umpquabirds.org/BAOR2L.mp3
(two single notes and one repeated note, as well as dog, chickens, ...)
Since the species hybridizes with Bullock's Oriole, I checked out a few
features to see if this looked like a pure individual, and it does:
*All dark head
*Orange shoulder area (median coverts)
*No big white patch on wing like Bullock's (greater coverts)
*Wide dark area across base of tail
*Orange corners at end of tail
Unrelated to hybridization (?), I cannot explain the lack of white tips on the
greater coverts. Looking at photos online, there seems to be quite a bit of
variation from just white edges to quite white tips. I don't know if this
variation is associated with age, or something else, or just individual
variation.
The Oregon Bird Records Committee has accepted 19 previous records for the
state (http://orbirds.org/obrcrecordsmay2015.pdf). As far as I know this is the
first record for Douglas County.
Matt Hunter
Melrose, OR
