I just returned to Tweeters this AM, after a long weekend absence, to find
Lynn Dunlap's note (below) and a follow-up from Tracee Geernaert.

Lynn wrote about her May 23, 1996 Bellingham oriole sighting:

_______

>The bird was about 8 or 9 inches, with a "sleek" profile. The bill was thin,
>black, slightly recurved. The color was bright yellow, very very bright
>yellow on the breast and rump and tending toward yellow-orange around the
>head and neck. The back was black, and the black wings marked with a thin
>white wing bar and white edgings to the primaries. (The colors were "fresh,"
>with clear distinctions.) A black "bib" extended from his bill through his
>eyes then down the front of his neck to the breast. The long black tail at
>times appeared to wedge shaped. He pumped it quite a bit as he worked the
>styrax. I didn't hear any calls--I was inside and didn't want to alarm him
>by stepping out the door and into his field of view.

>My impulse is to call this bird a Hooded Oriole, but that doesn't seem quite
>possible. I can find no reference to any in the state or this area-

______

As I read this I concluded that it was an excellent description of the male
Hooded Oriole that I and 20 + others saw in North Saanich (Sidney), B.C. on
May 6 - 7, 1996. The North Saanich bird was possibly a first year adult,
showing very bright yellows, but little of the bright orange that is depicted
for this species in most field guides. (The orange may be a characteristic
of older adults. Anyone with knowledge of this?).

The bird was not seen after the evening of May 7.

Tracee's speculation that the two may be the same bird is bang on. It would
be a minor series of hops from Sidney east to Bellingham, via the many Gulf
Islands. Thus, Washington birders should continue to search for this bird.

Perhaps Lynn could answer some questions from her memory or notes:

1. The black tail; was the underside entirely black or did any yellow
extend out under the tail? (ie. long undertail coverts?)

2. Did you notice any white tips to the tail feathers?

3. Did the black that extended from ..."the bill to the eye"...then take a
sharp right angle turn down to the throat and bib?

4. Was there any black on the head or neck above the eye (i.e. on the crown
or nape)?

5. Was/is there a hummingbird feeder in the neighbourhood -- the type that
might support a perched oriole? (The North Saanich bird was visiting one).

The Victoria and BC bird records committees will be reviewing the North
Saanich sighting. If accepted, it would be a first for B.C and a second
record for Canada.

Maybe, now, the Washington committee will also have a new species to review.

Good luck.

Bryan Gates, Victoria bgates at assessment.env.gov.bc.ca