Tweets - today, at about noon, I found a male HOODED ORIOLE in the Magnolia
neighborhood of Seattle, just off W. Magnolia Blvd. It was sitting atop the
house at 4314 W Montfort Place. It then flew to a bush at the SE corner of
Montfort and 43rd Ave, then to the house at the NE corner of that
intersection, then to a tree to the NW, then back to the original house. It
did not stay anywhere very long, but I did get an excellent face-on view
from the tree and an excellent side-on view atop the house. It then flew
off to the northwest and I could not relocate it.

This is an adult male bird, and it is a glowing yellow-orange all over
(including the lower belly), except for blackish wings with a very bold
triangular wing bar, a black tail, and a black patch encompassing the eyes
and extending down to the upper breast. The entire cheek, nape, and crown
are glowing yellow-orange. The bird was much more of a yellow-orange than
the dark, rich orange of a Bullock's Oriole, and it appeared somewhat
smaller than a BUOR too.

We had a report in early May from a nearby homeowner of a possible Hooded
Oriole. I had a glimpse of the bird at the exact same location on May 8th
(3 glimpses, actually, but none long enough for a definitive ID - enough
only to be pretty sure), so this bird appears to be hanging around.

It also appears to be very shy. Both May 8th and today, as soon as I saw
the bird, it shifted from one perch to another to another before leaving the
area.

Please be respectful of the neighborhood if you go to try to find this bird!

== Michael Hobbs
== Kirkland, WA
== http://www.scn.org/fomp/birding.htm
== birdmarymoor at verizon.net