Door to Nature

An unusual hyper-pigmented Baltimore Oriole this fall near Sturgeon Bay. Photo by Peter Wyatt.

The nation-wide Christmas Bird Counts (CBC’s) are now in progress, the count period being Dec.14 – Jan. 4. Occasionally those who feed and watch birds report some highly unusual species at this time. A Rufous Hummingbird was seen for several weeks in Madison and unfortunately was last seen at the feeders shortly before the CBC began. Last year Cindy Euclid from Southern Door reported a male Baltimore Oriole that began coming to her feeders on Nov. 12 and remained until Dec. 13, feeding on sunflower hearts, grape jelly and sugar water. It was a gorgeous strong-flying adult male which Charlotte and I were also fortunate to see and to photograph.

Victoria Cerinich and Peter Wyatt, who live along Cherry Road north of Sturgeon Bay and feed and watch birds regularly, emailed us this past Nov. 21: “Hi Charlotte and Roy, Yesterday (Nov. 20), Peter and I observed a new bird at our feeders. We can’t find a match in our small books. This bird is about the size of a bluebird, but it has predominant orange feathers on its breast and main body. The long tail is bright orange. The wings and back are brown, white and black. Peter took some pictures through the window and we have attached them. This bird made five trips to the peanut butter mix feeder, hanging upside down and right-side up, whatever it took to get the food. The bird is back today. There is only one. He doesn’t seem to have any buddies. He is so hungry that the blue jays can’t scare him away from the food. We are worried that he should have migrated somewhere warmer. Can we do anything to help?”

Following some suggestions from Charlotte, Victoria emailed us the following day: “Cherry (my name for the little girl bird) is back this morning. She has had food and a bath. She sat in the wild cherry tree nearest the house and groomed herself for several minutes, including fanning her bright orange tail many times. Just now, Cherry flew from that tree to the Scotch pines on our northern border, about 35 yards away. We looked at a website, and Cherry is more orange, has a longer tail and larger body than the Baltimore Oriole in the picture. I agree that Cherry probably is a female Baltimore Oriole because of her wing feathers. And, where she would have been more mousy tan/light brown, she is very orange. We will keep watching.”

The next email from Victoria came Nov. 24: “Cherry is still at our feeders. She is very determined to stay near them. The starlings try to intimidate her and she flares her tail feathers and stands her ground one-on-one. 2 or 3 starlings can make her move higher up in the tree, where Cherry waits until the starlings are gone. I have put out grape jelly for her and she ate some of it. And she ate some of the orange that is lying on the ground. Brian Sheehy of Havegard suggested that I reconstitute raisins and put them in the feeder. I am soaking raisins as I write. Peter thinks that she may have a damaged left wing. If we get a picture of her left side we will share it with you.”

Various attempts to feed and help Cherry continued into December. Charlotte contacted several state bird experts including Mike McDowell, Bettie Harriman and John Idzikowski. John said: “It looks like a hyper-pigmented female Baltimore Oriole.” Mike McDowell wrote: “It’s an oriole, but I don’t know what a 1st year Baltimore male should look like in November. Solid orange tail! Overall, this bird looks too orange to be a female.” Ryan Brady of the Department of Natural Resources said: “I don’t know my southwestern orioles that well but, at quick glance, I would agree with John I. on this being an atypical Baltimore.”

On Saturday, December 13, Victoria wrote: “Our little girl is doing fine in her new home at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary (Green Bay). Yesterday, Dec. 12, Peter captured Cherry as she lay on the ground unable to fly after taking a dip in the birdbath.

“Since we first observed her, back in November, we had noticed that she had a few feathers sticking out of her left wing. And, her left wing appeared to be shorter than her right wing. Because she could only fly 100 feet to the evergreens and back, we weren’t positive that this was a problem. But, when she bathed on Monday, she had great difficulty in getting back into the tree to safety. We called Bay Beach Sanctuary, at the advice of our friend, Alice Billing, an environmental science masters candidate, but Cherry made it up into the tree before we could rescue her.

“Then came the big snow storm. We weren’t sure that she would survive, but Cherry is a tough little girl. When we returned from Chicago, there she was, sitting on the feeder. When I brought fresh warm water out, she immediately took a bath and ended up on the ground again. So, having made a plan on how to catch her and where to keep her should this happen again, Peter and I sprang into action.

“After using a towel to catch her, Peter placed her in the feeder box to transport her to the Sanctuary. They are terrific people, Fluffy and Jody at the main office and Jennifer, Mike and another gentleman in the injured animal observation house. Mike said that although Cherry definitely is an oriole, she may be an immature male, but it will be hard to tell until spring after molting. And, she does have an injured wing. In addition to the shorter feathers sticking out, Cherry’s left wing is missing its flight feathers.

“Cherry will be cared for in her new home until spring when a decision will be made to release her or, if she cannot fly properly, to keep her in the songbird exhibit at the Sanctuary. If she is released, she can be released into our backyard in her original environment. Great for us! If Cherry stays in the Sanctuary, then great for everyone who gets to see her and for her, too!”

This heart-warming story has been shared with many birders throughout the Midwest with several responses thus far. Cathy Gagliardi, St. Paul, MN wrote: “Thank you so much for posting this. What a lovely story and a happy ending too. You’ve made my day!” Martin Murphy, from Crawford Co. near the Miss. River, wrote, “Great Story,” and Laurie Cieszynski of Omro, WI responded: “Thank you to those VERY special people!! I wish more people cared so much!”

Nature can be so unpredictable, exciting and lovely in many ways, made all the more wonderful by especially thoughtful people such as Peter, Victoria and the other generous individuals who pitched in to bring the touch-and-go adventures of Cherry, the Baltimore Oriole, to a safe ending.