Baltimore orioles

This is a video of a Baltimore oriole in Maryland, USA.

From the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in the USA:

Baltimore Oriole

Bird of Coffee and Chocolate

by Gregory Gough (December 2007)

The Baltimore oriole is perhaps the most famous neotropical migratory bird. Its brilliant orange and black plumage is reminiscent of the crest of Lord Baltimore, an important figure in Maryland’s history, and the bird has become the mascot of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.

But our story begins in the tropics, from Mexico to northern South America, where Baltimore orioles spend most of the year. Here they inhabit lush, tropical forests and feed on nectar, pollen, fruit, and insects. They especially favor coffee and cacao (the plant that chocolate comes from) plantations where these crops are grown in the traditional manner, the coffee and cacao shrubs flourishing under a shady canopy of natural forest trees.

Pairs of males and females form flocks of about ten individuals, although sometimes as many as 30 or 40 are in a single flock. Apart from members of a few warbler species, Baltimore orioles are often the most common migratory bird in these agricultural forests. The birds favor the tops of trees, especially those in the genus Inga, where they forage among the numerous blossoms for nectar and pollen. Orioles have a special tongue, which resembles a brush, for lapping up nectar.