9 Proven Ways to Attract Orioles to Your Yard & Feeders

Last Updated on Jan 20 2023

Be it orchard, bullock’s, Baltimore, hooded, or any of the other oriole species that frequently tour North America, these luminous colored birds are common backyard visitors.

You can invite orioles easily to become frequent guests to your garden and yard by learning the tricks to allure them.

Why Would You Want to Attract Orioles?

The luminous orange, yellow, and black feathers of orioles are a noticeable contrast to numerous backyard birds. Their rich, melodious song is sweet to the ears.

However, these aren’t the sole reasons orioles are highly suitable backyard birds. Since their favorite food is the nectar of flowers, they don’t spread seeds that can grow in unwelcome spots around the yard.

Orioles consume a wide array of insects and, therefore, they’re an efficient pest control measure in your yard. Here are a couple of ways of alluring orioles to your yard. Read on!

1. Start in Early Spring

Timing is the key when it comes to alluring orioles to your garden. Orioles are chilly, fatigued, and hungry from relocating during the night. Therefore, they’ll search for a dependable source of breakfast and stick to it.

Putting feeders at least one week or a fortnight ahead of their expected migration during spring is the key. If orioles don’t locate the feeders immediately upon arrival, they’re unlikely to begin using them later.

Orioles arrive in the southern states as early as April and move further north until May. Begin erecting feeders in late March or early April to allure the first orioles to set in. Also, keep the feeders late into the fall because the birds relocate south again.

If you make your garden a dependable source for orioles every year, you’ll be maximizing the opportunity to perceive these birds.

2. Put an Orange Ribbon in your Backyard

Orioles are allured to luminous and showy colors similar to hummingbirds. Feeders are usually orange. Although hummingbirds are attracted to red, orioles prefer bright orange. To attract the attention of orioles flying overhead, brighten up your yard.

Tie strips of fabric, orange ribbons, or surveyors tape around railings, shrubs, or up in branches to attract orioles. These rarely seen birds like high canopies and these showy colors may lure them to look at your garden and feeding points closely.

3. Provide Homegrown Nectar

Orioles relish drinking nectar or sugar water for an immediate energy boost, although they don’t have a hummingbird’s metabolism. You can buy the right nectars; however, preparing a nectar solution is easy.

Additionally, you can utilize the same recipe for both orioles and hummingbirds. Ensure that orioles are safe by using this simple blend of four portions of warm water and one part sugar.

Next, stir the blend until the sugar is entirely dissolved, and let it cool to room temperature. That’s it. Don’t add anything else such as honey or sweeteners.

Warm water is sufficient to dissolve the sugar. Nonetheless, boiled water is the best as it makes the blend last longer (up to one week) if you keep it in a fridge. Don’t forget to keep nectar fresh, and don’t utilize food color.

4. Plant Suitable Flowers

Indigenous flowers and plants are the best food to allure orioles to your garden. Although nectar feeders are an excellent addition, birds cannot resist the real deal. Ensure you fill nectar-generating flowers and luminous orange hues in your yard for a better opportunity of attracting orioles.

If you’re just starting, you can search for indigenous plants that grow in your locality online. However, daisies are always an excellent start.

Besides the nectar, indigenous plants also provide a variety of insects that are advantageous to the birds. Shiny balls, yard flags, a painted bench, or even a decorative treillage all provide extra choices to improve the oriole-alluring color.

5. The Correct Feeder Location is the Key

Orioles are canopy birds. Therefore, consider this when hanging bird feeders. Think like orioles, and set up feeders in the open where birds flying overhead or those sitting high on the top of their perches can see.

These timid birds may not come close to busy localities until they’re used to the surroundings. Therefore, ensure that you set up feeders away from human activity and other feeding spots as it’ll make the birds feel safer, and help them feed peacefully.

Finally, be patient as it takes a couple of seasons to not only allure orioles but make them come back every year.

6. Provide a Fresh Source of Water (Birdbath)

All birds require water to maintain good health and avoid dehydration. Orioles are no exception. They’re allured to moving water and shallow dishes. Set up birdbaths strategically close to feeders to lure orioles to utilize this expedient source of water.

If your bath has a dripper, bubbler, or mister, then it’s even better because orioles adore the sight and sound of moving water. Make sure you use sinks not more than two to three inches deep to give orioles the best place to bathe and drink. Similar to feeders, ensure that the sources of water remain clean and free of rubble for the birds’ health.

7. Utilize Feeders Specifically for Orioles

While it’s not uncommon for orioles to attempt to use feeders meant for hummingbirds, their tongues are too large. Therefore, they cannot hover around them, and knock them down often. Utilize oriole-particular feeders and ensure that your feeder has sufficiently large perches and drinking places.

Usually, oriole feeders are available in orange and luminous yellow colors. It’s because orioles are allured to bright hues. Since they need big perches and drinking areas, specific feeders will do the trick.

As a bonus, oriole-particular feeders usually come with extra features like places to keep mature fruits or other goodies for your birds.

8. Promote Nesting in your Garden

Orioles search for tall indigenous trees to construct their unmatched and noticeable nests. Although orioles don’t nest in birdhouses, cottonwood, oak, willow, poplar, elm, or similar trees can motivate them to construct their nests in your garden.

Orioles utilize materials such as grasses, vines, bark strips, plant fibers, and strings to weave their hanging nests tightly. Provide slim fibers like hair, cosset fur, or three to four-inch lengths of yarn for the orioles to weave into their sock-like hanging nests.

While nests are typically affixed relatively high, orioles utilize nesting material every year. Therefore, keeping old nests for orioles next spring is advantageous.

9. Discourage Ants from Getting into the Feeder

As you may imagine, saccharine treats for orioles usually implies creepy-crawly insects at your bird feeders as well. Bees, ants, and other bugs get allured to the sugary nectar and half fruits that you put for orioles.

Half oranges and straight jelly have the highest sugar content. Therefore, it’ll attract most insects and should be changed frequently to stop contamination.

To ensure that insects don’t block holes, add a simple ant moat to the bird’s feeder. If your bird feeder isn’t equipped with bee or ant guards, try to rub a little amount of vegetable oil close to the feeder holes to keep bugs away.

• You might also be interested in: 9 Proven Ways to Keep Ants OUT of Hummingbird Feeders

In Conclusion

You must meet the survival requirements of a bird to allure it to your garden. Luckily, you can do so easily for the distinct species of orioles by following the tips we’ve given you above.

Follow these tips when planning and maintaining your yard. It’ll make your garden as hospitable as possible for orioles and draw their attention to a suitable dwelling place.

If it proves hard to allure orioles to your garden at first, don’t be displeased. If you provide a secure and fit habitat with numerous sources of food and other birds’ supplies, soon, the orioles will notice your garden and become frequent guests.

Featured Image Credit: Pixabay