Western Tanager and Hooded Oriole

In spring and summer in Southern California, we are quite likely to see a few brilliantly-hued songbirds that, to the novice birder, can be mistaken for some exotic zoo escapee. The Western Tanager is one such species. The breeding colors of the male consist of a red head, pale yellow wing bars on dark gray to black wings, dark tail and a greenish-yellow nape and rump. As usual, the female is less colorful, with none of the vibrant hues of the male. Female tanagers resemble female orioles in color. However, the female tanager has a thicker bill and a chunkier shape than the oriole.

The habitat of the tanager is primarily open, coniferous forest. Although they breed in California, they winter in Mexico and Central America. In late spring and early summer, they feed primarily on wasps, bees, ants, beetles and bugs. Later, they feed on cherry, raspberry, mulberry, elderberry and serviceberry. However, at the most, 15% of the tanager's diet is plant matter, with insects being the preference. The tanager often feeds like a flycatcher from the high tree canopy.

The Hooded Oriole is another of our brightly-colored species. The male, again the pretty one, is orange with black upper back, wings and tail. The "hood" (which more resembles a bib) is black as well. The female is greenish-gray with yellowish underparts. The oriole has a long beak and slender body in contrast to the stubbier beak and body of the tanager. As with the tanager, the oriole winters in Mexico and Central America.

The oriole is a raucous bird, both in vocalizations and personality. His diet preferences include weevils, stinkbugs, grasshoppers, ants, bees and leafhoppers. In terms of plant matter, the oriole prefers fig and elderberry. I observed, just last week, an oriole removing and consuming a bud from my crepe myrtle. I couldn't find that listed as a diet preference in any of my research. Maybe those biologists don't know everything after all!

Many people who feed hummingbirds are also blessed with an oriole or two at their feeders. Orioles love the nectar and are often attracted to our "hummer areas". Oriole feeders can be purchased at many wild bird supply stores. Oriole feeders make it much easier for the orioles to sip that delicious nectar. We've observed orioles hanging in all sorts of strange poses trying to get nectar from a hummer feeder. Give the poor guys a beak and buy an oriole feeder if you have orioles in your area. The nectar (sugar water) for the orioles should be a ratio of 6:1 (water to sugar) as opposed to the 4:1 ratio for hummingbird feeders. Orange and apple halves, grapes bananas and believe it or not, grape jelly may also attract orioles as well as tanagers and other fruit-eating birds.

A couple of hints came our way this week for those of you with hummingbird feeders. One reader recommended boiling the water prior to mixing in the sugar. This seems to retard the bacterial growth in the hummer and oriole feeders. Another reader recommended canola oil smeared on the ant's access ways to the feeders. The oil apparently lasts a month or so and when the ants reappear, just use the oil again.

Whether you go "au naturel" and use native plants to attract birds, or whether you help them along by the use of feeders, just remember that the goal is simply to enjoy them and to learn a little something about the other animals with whom we share this planet.

— Cindy Traisi