Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!news.nd.edu!mentor.cc.purdue.edu!npirs!tfisher From: tfisher@NPIRS.Purdue.EDU (Tom Fisher) Newsgroups: rec.birds Subject: Re: Are oriole "feeders" fakes? Message-ID: <1991May24.213728.23714@NPIRS.Purdue.EDU> Date: 24 May 91 21:37:28 GMT References: Organization: The National Pesticide Information Retrieval System, Purdue University Lines: 35 From article , by rk30+@andrew.cmu.edu (Ruth Kline): > I hope you knowledgeable birders can help settle > an argument I'm having with my sister. She just > bought an oriole feeder, built on the same design > as hummingbird feeders except the liquid is orange > rather than red and this one has the design of > orange slices on it. She claims the garden shop > person who sold it to her said it would attract > orioles, much like the hummer feeders attract > hummers. My argument is that orioles do not > eat by sucking nectar, as do hummers, and that > this oriole feeder is just a money-making > exploitation of well-meaning people. Given the > fact that orioles *do* love oranges and are > attracted to the feeder because of the orange > color, will they really be able to suck out > the man-made nectar inside? I definitely am > puzzled by this and, though I've seen an > oriole only once in my life, I believe the > structure of their beeks would indicate that > they are seed/insect eaters. Please set me > straight on this! A couple of years ago, someone gave me an oriole feeder such as you describe. I followed all the directions, hung the thing up from a tree branch, and waited - and waited - and waited. As far as I could tell, there never were any takers. The solution finally fermented and I threw the thing away. We do have Northern (I still prefer to call them "Baltimore") Orioles around but they simply were not attracted. That's my experience. -- ============================================================================== Tom Fisher tfisher@npirs.purdue.edu | "...if by chance we find each Phone (317) 494-6616 | other, it is beautiful." - F. Perls