How to Attract Orioles to Your Yard! The Top Five Strategies!

The Wild Bird House ... www.wild-bird-house.com

These are the top 5 strategies to attract Orioles to your yard.

One: Offer the food they like. Orioles like to eat grape jelly, mealworms, oranges and nectar. They don't often eat seed or nuts, they prefer fruit, berries and insects. Surprisingly, the food they are most attracted to is grape jelly. Live mealworms are also a favorite and help keep them coming during nesting. Oranges cut in half are another great food to offer and orioles, like hummingbirds, also drink nectar.

Two: Timing is critical. Know when orioles arrive in your area and get the food out a week before their arrival. Ask a local bird store when you can expect them. In the Midwest they begin to arrive the last week of April. In the south expect them a little sooner and in the north a little bit later.

Three: Use good feeders and place them in the open where orioles can easily see them. Feeders that let you offer multiple food types, like jelly and oranges, are an excellent choice. Jelly feeders should have dishes of at least 2 inches in diameter or larger. Do not use jelly feeders with small openings as they are dangerous for the birds.

Four: Offer water in a bird bath or fountain. All birds need water and orioles are no exception. Not only to drink, but to bath in too.

Five: Plant trees and bushes in your yard that orioles will use or feed from. Orioles like to nest in mature trees like oak, maple, cottonwood, sycamore, and elm. They also love to eat from fruit bearing trees and bushes like mulberry, serviceberry, cherry, raspberry and blackberry.

Attracting orioles is simple: Provide them what they need at the right time and you will be rewarded!