RBG. Hendrie Valley, Burlington ON. June 5th .2021. My Breeding Bird Atlas work is, of necessity, an opportunity to slow down, to linger, wait, watch and listen. Spending early morning hours just taking it all in is an education in itself. The same ground walked several times in the course of a couple of weeks reveals entwined and overlapping patterns of territory.
Sitting quietly one morning, I noticed quiet but repetitive activity that turned out to be industrious nest building by a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. The two of them worked busily with small fibres, lichen and spider silk to create a tiny platform which, with a day or two’s work, became a tidy little cup the size of half a tennis ball. With the female nestled in it became almost invisible.
This morning I went to see a reported Orchard Oriole. He was easy to find and well within my assigned atlas square. But is he one of a breeding pair? I’m left with many unanswered questions. You see, although he’s a singing male he may not be quite grown-up. Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of the World website notes, “…the Orchard Oriole is the smallest oriole in North America. Adult males (after-second-year) have distinctive black and chestnut plumage, while yearling males (hatch-year and second-year) are yellow-greenish with a black bib. Females of any age, and recent fledglings of both sexes, are similar to hatch-year and second-year males but lack the black bib. Today’s bird was a yearling male, singing boldly and endlessly and prompting questions about his status: Does he have a mate nearby? or is he still hoping to attract one?
I don’t know, not yet anyway, but it got me thinking about the prospects of males, marked as young by their plumage, to succeed at breeding. What are other indicators of age and maturity? What about yearling Red-winged Blackbirds, American Robins or Mallards? They look grown-up, but maybe they’re just kids.
On-line research took me into some obscure corners of ornithology. The Cornell site was helpful, it allows that some Orchard Oriole yearlings do indeed breed successfully. So there, the appearance of youth doesn’t necessarily preclude pair-bonding and reproduction; it happens sometimes. And I can’t leave it at that without noting that the same holds for humans too.
I will continue to monitor this young Orchard Oriole. Today he was My Bird of the Day, next week he may get a promotion. Who knows?