After that, I rarely saw the female outside the nest. Maybe she had laid the eggs, and was incubating them. However, I did notice that she would leave the nest about once every hour to get a drink from the oriole feeder and then quickly fly right back up to incubate her eggs. About 14 days after finishing the nest, both parents were very busy feeding their young. One week later, I could hear the oriole nestlings calling from the nest, and only one week after that they had fledged.
Summers are short here, so the orioles have to make their families fast.
In addition to the many, many insect larva that orioles find so tasty, orioles also have a sweet tooth. They seem to love sweets as much as some of us. A bit of orange, or a sip of grape juice just can't be beat when your thirsty. Especially when you've just flown so many miles, and you're so busy. Even the young orioles caught on quickly and tried to get a treat.