Hooded Oriole

We have a family of Hooded Orioles living in the tree in our backyard.  Well, either our yard or our neighbor's yard.  It's hard to tell.  They are camera shy.  And I've had a hell of a time getting a good picture of any of them.

This is about the best picture I've been able to get of the male.

He's gorgeous - a brilliant orange-yellow that just pops in sunlight.

But he likes to stay a nice safe distance away.  I read they feed from hummingbird feeders so I moved the feeder from the front to the back, but to no avail.  He still stays far away.

Which makes me want a longer telephoto lens.


The female is just as camera shy, but she has been hanging out in the maple and eucalyptus with some fledging babies, so she's camera shy a little closer to the camera.  If you open our back door or walk around into the back, she'll start making angry-sounding clicking sounds at you.  And the babies make a similar clicking sound when they want to be fed.  Left unmolested, the male makes a very pretty song.  I've pretty much given up hope of getting any better pictures before they move on.

Hooded Orioles, taken over the course of May 12th through the 14th with the Nikon.  Identified in the color-coded Birds of California field guide.