Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner!



I was poised and ready to photograph hummingbirds on our treetop deck at the Lake of the Ozarks when this visitor showed up!  

I guess someone forgot to tell him he's not a hummer!

Actually, he's a male Orchard Oriole who came to the hummingbird feeder looking for a sugary drink.  

When I first saw him I thought he was
 all black because of the way the light hit him.  Once he landed on the feeder, however, I could see his gorgeous chestnut coloring.  The literature tells us that he is our smallest Oriole, measuring about 7.25" with a wingspan of 9.5".  That's in between the size of a budgerigar (commonly sold in pet stores as a parakeet), and a Northern Cardinal.




After getting his drink he then proceeded to check out the bottom of the other hummingbird feeder in search of insects that might be hiding under the lip of the nectar reservoir.  

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