Douglas County oriole

[John Ealy]

Thought we had a Bullock's oriole, but this one is smaller with shorter beak and no eyeline over orange auriculars. I'm thinking it might be an orchard or hooded. Anybody's help would be appreciated. Apologies for the inferior digicam.

John Ealy

Roxborough Park, Douglas County

[Austin Hess]

That's a male Hooded Oriole.... do you realize that would be a 2nd state record??? Incredible find. 

Austin Hess

Fort Collins, Colorado

[David Dowell]

Wow!  Any photos of the side or back?  I'm wondering if Streak-backed Oriole is also a possible ID.

David Dowell

Longmont, CO

[Brad Biggerstaff]

Great bird!

I just saw on eBird that a Hooded Oriole was seen and photographed in Manhattan, Kansas.

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29231842

Birds and their wings....

Brad Biggerstaff
Fort Collins

+++ It's amazing what you see when you look +++

Wow!  Any photos of the side or back?  I'm wondering if Streak-backed Oriole is also a possible ID.

David Dowell

Longmont, CO

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[John Ealy]

Apologies. The only clear photo I have is what I posted. The bird is very timid and flies from the feeder if we approach the windows, which is why I had to resort to digicam. The more I look at the pic, the more the bird looks like a young orchard to my eye. I'd love to have a state record bird, but I'm skeptical. 

[apan...@yahoo.com]

Looks too orange to be an orchard oriole.  

Arvind Panjabi

Fort Collins 
Sent from my iPhone

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[David Tonnessen]

Agreed, an Orchard Oriole would never look this orange. Also, the bill is too slender for Streak-backed and the other markings aren't quite right either, no?

David Tonnessen

Colorado Springs 

[Daniel Maynard]

Folks,

Just a friendly reminder that in order to have a chance at becoming a state record, a sighting would first need to be submitted to the CO Bird Records Committee for consideration. I can't speak for the other committee members, but I can say that I would certainly like to see this sighting submitted :) A link to the website where records can be submitted is here: http://coloradobirdrecords.org/. Yes, that is a shameless plug for the committee.

More importantly, I think just about every birder in the state would be interested in seeing this bird for themselves, if that is indeed a possibility.

A few observations that point to Hooded Oriole vs. Orchard: 

- The slightly more decurved bill (especially the upper mandible)

- The photo suggests a bold upper wing patch a la Hooded (immature M Orchard shows 2 relatively similar width wing bars)

- The coloration seems too yellow for Orchard (usually more greenish-yellow), as has already been pointed out

- Orchard is very small, not much bigger than a large warbler. 

Cheers,

-- 

Dan Maynard

Denver, CO

[Mark Obmascik]

John Ealy, one of my former editors at the Denver Post (he saved me from myself more times than I want to admit), invited me over to his house this morning near Roxborough Park in Douglas County to search for the interesting oriole. We ended up with several good looks but lousy photographs of the bird. (Zapruder-style pix attached.) I haven't seen a hooded oriole in more than ten years, so I will leave the ID to those who know the bird better. John said it was his third day seeing the bird in his backyard.

The oriole is a brilliant yellow with black masked face, long bill, black tail, and a strong white wingbar. It was about as long as a starling but not nearly as chunky. John saw the bird just before I arrived. After it failed to return for 90 minutes, I played a hooded oriole song, which it responded to twice.  I heard it call "veek," which sounded close to the hooded oriole call on the Sibley app.

Hope this helps.

Good birding.

Mark Obmascik

Denver, CO