I think the bird was here last year. I can say there are at least 12 to 15 orioles here, including a pair of orchard orioles, flying, eating, singing and chasing each other through the yard. I love those flashes of orange. As orioles settle into their nesting routines, many of you will be settling into summer vacation routines. To find oriole nests, listen to their songs and then follow their movements.
Orioles prefer nesting in large shade trees.
Their nests may be in very high branches, but are usually on the outer twigs, so it's sometimes possible to watch them. Hummingbirds eat a wide variety of tiny flying insects swarming about the tips of newly budding branches, and they also feed on the sap from sapsucker borings. So even if the weather is unpredictable, they can count on plenty of food when they first arrive. Orioles require much larger insects, such as caterpillars, which don't hatch until buds emerge. So orioles must wait until leaf-out.