Orchard Oriole in Scarlet Oak, Bartram's Garden in album Philadelphia

In Albums: birds Philadelphia

May 13th, 2011, by Alex Zorach

This male orchard oriole was perched in the branches of a scarlet oak tree, in an exposed area where I was able to photograph him without much trouble. The bird and tree were along the north side of the parking lot for Bartram's garden in Philadelphia.

Orchard orioles are a somewhat uncommon bird to me, and I am always excited to hear or see one. In late spring and early summer, I frequently hear them more often than see them. Often, they are far away, singing from a treetop. Their territories can be relatively large and I have never seen a large number of them in a given area. The song of this bird is sometimes described as being vaguely similar to that of a house finch; to me they sound quite different. The orchard oriole has a song that sounds highly varied to me, including a rolling series of bubbly, warbled units, interspersed with sharp, percussive noises like "chuck" or "check" in a way which seems highly jarring to me. It is this jarring quality of the song of the Orchard oriole that makes it immediately stand out in my mind; other "warbling" songs, like a warbling vireo, or house finch, are comparatively much smoother, and the baltimore oriole's song also sounds much rounder and smoother.