Date: 2/24/25 11:01 am From: James V Remsen via groups.io <najames...> Subject: Re: [labird] First year orchard oriole
Michael/LABIRD — great winter record. The earliest true, long-distance spring migrants of almost all of our land birds are adult males, often singing. There’s some circular reasoning involved in that, but I think it holds pretty well for most species. So, your bird, as well as first-year males of almost any migrants, are likely wandering overwintering birds. Also, the very first true spring arrivals usually appear at either coastal migrant traps or known or typical breeding locations.
Orioles, tanagers, grosbeaks, and buntings seem especially prone to having “new” birds show up sporadically during the winter. Their true origins will only be revealed by telemetry or perhaps some lucky banding records. In other words, we don’t know if these new birds were in the neighborhood all along and finally detected because of increasing feeder use after natural food supplies diminish, or whether they are new arrivals from other areas of their winter range, nearby or far.
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Dr. J. V. Remsen
Emeritus Prof. of Natural Science and Curator of Birds
Museum of Natural Science/Dept. Biological Sciences
LSU, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
najames<at>LSU.edu
> On Feb 24, 2025, at 12:30 PM, Michael Cavanaugh via groups.io <michaelcav...> wrote:
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> Friends, a first year Orchard Oriole just appeared in our yard. That seems awfully early, right? I'll try to get a picture. We got a good look, but so far he was only here a couple of minutes.
> Thanks,Michael Cavanaugh (a mile south of LSU off Highland Road)
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