Orchard Oriole

The phrase hurries through sweet whistles, then roughens into throatier notes before darting on.

Breeds across the eastern two-thirds of the United States and southern Canada; migrates to wintering grounds from coastal Mexico through Central America to northern South America and the Caribbean.

Open deciduous woodlands, streamside groves, orchards, parks, shade trees in farms and suburbs, and shrubby edges—especially where willows, cottonwoods, or fruit trees provide both nectar and insect prey.

Long-distance migrant. Adults arrive on breeding grounds from late April to mid-May, nest through July, then depart as early as mid-August, with most gone by September. Winters November–March in the tropics.

The Orchard Oriole is North America’s smallest oriole, a slim, agile songbird that swaps the blazing oranges of its relatives for rich chestnut-and-black or muted yellow-green plumage. Often unobtrusive, it slips through leafy canopies hunting insects and softly whistling a sweet, jumbled song that seems to drift on summer air.