UPDATE – Aug 13, 2008 – Neither the male or female Hooded Orioles have returned to our feeders. They were usually visiting every 20-30 minutes throughout the day. It would seem they’ve begun their journey south for the winter since someone destroyed their nest.
Aug 11, 2008 – I recently discovered the pair of Hooded Orioles that have been visiting our feeders for the past two months had built a nest in our neighbor’s FRONT yard across the street. They had constructed it under a palm leaf that was draped over the shrubbery. Although it was not at all visible from the street, it was just 6′ off the ground.
It caught my attention as the Orioles were frequently in that area when not at our feeders and just last Thursday we heard the chicks calling as they were being fed – loud enough to be heard from our dining room.
I told our neighbor about the nest so that he could let his gardener know not to touch it. We both thought it was odd they had not removed the fallen palm leaf yet so we assumed they were aware there was a nest there and did not remove it.
Unfortunately, we were out of town over the weekend and came home late last night to find the palm leaf the nest was attached to just laying on the grass. I went over to investigate and found no babies in the nest so my guess is a cat or dog already got a hold of them. I also suspect it was a person that knocked the branch over as it was too heavy to be moved by an animal/bird. It’s a shame as I was looking forward to photographing the chicks as they fledged.
I did save the nest to photograph though:
Hooded Oriole Nest
Hooded Oriole Nest