Tweeters,

My wife and I both saw what we thought was a male Hooded Oriole at
our house on Magnolia (Seattle) on May 2. We didn't report it because
we weren't 100% sure. Interestingly, we had seen a Hooded male at our
house last year, which we were able to confirm 100% as the bird sat
still for several minutes while three of us looked with binocular and
read Sibley and other books before it flew. We didn't want to report
a second Hooded until we were equally sure.

Last week's bird was yellow with a black throat that extended to the
eye. But we couldn't get a clear look behind the eye to see if it had
a black eyestripe like a first-year male Bullock's Oriole would have.
Also, we didn't pay attention to the bill shape to see if it was
decurved (Hooded) or straight (Bullock's). We didn't remember this
feature until we read our books after the bird had flown.

Fortunately, I just saw the same bird again today (May 7), and it
definitely did not have the Bullock's black eyestripe. Also, the
belly was yellow, not whitish as is sometimes described for the
immature Bullocks. It is not a first-year Bullock's.

The only other possibility is a first-year male Orchard Oriole. The
bird I saw seemed larger and longer than an Orchard. But I wasn't
able to get a good look at the bill this time, so I can't confirm the
decurved bill that would mark a Hooded instead. I'll keep looking,
but I'm 99.99% sure it's a Hooded.

Any other ideas?

Thanks. -- Rod Brown

********************
Rodney L. Brown, Jr.
2580 Magnolia Blvd. W.
Seattle, WA 98199
www.conollybrown.com
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