Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Baltimore Orioles at Horicon Marsh NWR, WI: 5-26-17




Male Baltimore Oriole




                                The state bird of Maryland

















Unlike robins and many other fruit-eating birds, these orioles seem to prefer only ripe, dark-colored fruit.





They seek out the darkest mulberries, the reddest cherries, and the deepest-purple grapes, and will ignore green grapes and yellow cherries even if they are ripe.





Sometimes these birds use their slender beaks to feed in an unusual way, called "gaping": they stab the closed bill into soft fruits, then open their mouths to cut a juicy swath from which they drink with their brushy-tipped tongues.




Hmmm!!!











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