Bullock's Oriole

Another bird that we got to photograph on our Yellowstone trip and that we can add to our life list is the Bullock's oriole. The Bullock's oriole is the western cousin of the Baltimore oriole which we see here in Minnesota during the warm months.

At one time these two types of orioles where both considered the same, northern orioles, but testing has shown that there is enough of a difference between the two to separate them into different species. Orioles, it would appear, did not get the memo because they often mate across the species where their ranges cross, creating Bullock's Baltimore hybrids.

Bullock's orioles are primarily insect eaters. They find their prey by scouring the trees and bushes for spiders, caterpillars and other insects. Their preferred habitat is open woodland especially when it is next to a river or stream. This makes sense, since we spotted quite a few of these birds, and took these photos, in Celebration Park, which is located adjacent to the Snake River near Boise, ID.