Birds of Ohio, Stan Tekiela discs are available for purchase at The Rock Pile

Feeding Orioles is a little different than most other backyard birds. At The Rock Pile, we carry specialized oriole feeder designs that accommodate only the foods orioles prefer. Nectar feeders with large ports for large bills and perches for these songbirds are popular, as are small dishes for offering jelly or mealworms. Feeders with spikes to securely hold orange or apple halves are also popular oriole feeders, and many feeder designs incorporate all three: nectar reservoirs, jelly dishes and fruit spikes. Chunks and wedges of fruit can also be offered in platform or tray feeders, and jelly can be offered in any small dish.

Orioles will eagerly sip nectar. Making homemade oriole food with a 5:1 or 6:1 ratio of water to sugar is suitable when trying to appease these birds’ appetites. Many ready-to-use oriole nectars, available at The Rock Pile, use orange dye to help attract the birds, or try any oriole feeders with an orange base.

Jelly is one of the most effective oriole foods you can offer. Smooth grape jelly is best, but the birds will also take orange marmalade or red cherry, strawberry, blackberry or raspberry jellies. Offer jelly in small dishes, in a hollow orange rind or smeared on an orange half and the orioles won’t be able to leave it alone. Do not, however, offer sugar free jellies; it is the sugar that gives the birds the necessary energy and calories they need.

For a ready-made food source, plant shrubs and bushes that produce berries orioles love to eat. Blackberries, elderberries, blueberries, serviceberries, raspberries, mulberries and huckleberries are all good choices. Check out The Rock Pile’s Nursery section to choose from a great variety of plants sure to please both you and your birds! Plant a variety of nectar producing flowers in your garden to give orioles another natural food source. Many orioles will be attracted to the same sweet flowers that attract hummingbirds including petunias, honeysuckle and bleeding hearts.

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