Richard

Those Orioles are back again, and I've learned they are Scott's Oriole. I haven't been able to snap my own photo, so here's one I found online:

Photo by EGK in San Diego, 2010 (click on image for reference):


As some of you remember from this Spring, they made this nest in a leaf of a Dwarf Brazilian:



Now they are building a new nest in the leaf of ... let's call it a Misi Namwah. Check out the threads of fiber hanging from the leaf. The birds have built a nest similar to the one above inside this leaf and sewn the leaf together underneath it to keep it from falling. Also check out the slits they made near the top for entry and exit.

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sunfish

Hooded Oriole in my yard

Richard

My backyard is turning into an avian battlefield. The Orioles have positioned themselves in a defensible location up inside the sewn banana leaf. The mockingbirds don't want them nesting in their territory and are trying to drive them out. The mockingbirds and finches are competing for food and occasionally have spats over who gets to feed on any insects in the area. Meanwhile, the California Towhee's are going after grubs and occasionally being bullied out by a raven. However, the mockingbird air force always comes to the rescue of the Towhee's because they can't tolerate Ravens in their airspace. The morning doves are coming around picking at parts of flower buds that the finches leave behind. About every half hour, a Cooper's hawk zooms through (sometimes sideways) in an attempt to pick off a morning dove. One of the doves will occasionally fly off in a panic straight into a solid fence or wall, knocking themselves unconscious. The hawk then has an easy meal, which I think was the whole point of flying through in the first place. When everything quiets to sort of a lull, an oriole flies out to fetch another piece of fiber for the nest.

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