Hooded Oriole

About the Hooded Oriole

The Hooded Oriole is a slim, long-tailed oriole of the southwestern border country - the male flame orange to orange-yellow with a black face and bib, black back, and slightly down-curved bill; the female olive-yellow with grayish wings. The orange hood wrapping over the crown is what separates the male from most other Texas orioles.

Hooded Orioles are strongly tied to palms wherever they occur. The female sews the hanging nest to the underside of a palm frond, stitching fibers right through the leaf, and the species has followed ornamental palm plantings into towns and suburbs. They work flowers for nectar and insects and come readily to hummingbird feeders and orange halves.

In Texas the Hooded Oriole is a summer breeder from March through September in the Rio Grande Valley and westward along the border, with the palm-lined resacas of the Valley being the classic place to find one.