Welcome to April everyone! Big thanks to Brad for keeping you entertained while I am out traipsing about the west. Some would consider vacation to be a relaxing, lazy day endeavor. In contrast, we here at Intrigued approach it as a test of strength and resolve mixed in with equal amounts of frustration and euphoria. It does come with a perpetual smile though as there is nothing better for the soul than being out in nature hunting for feathers. It also means there is a good chance you will be without connectivity which is the case for the last several days as we were exploring southeastern Arizona. Apologies for the delayed responses to post comments and the avalanche of unread emails that are still trying to download. I need to get caught up, but the next several days will be busy as my brother Ron is coming out to meet us for some weekend birding. He has some catching up to do as I just broke into the top 100 birders in all of US with my 308 annual count as I am on quite a streak! More on that in future posts. In the meantime, thought I would introduce you to another Streak.
Hit the jump to read more about today’s featured feathered friend.
Guessing many of you are familiar with one or more members of the Oriole family. Here in the US we have 8 different species:
Orchard Oriole (link here)
Hooded Oriole (link here)
Bullock’s Oriole (link here)
Spot-Breasted Oriole
Altamira Oriole (link here)
Audubon’s Oriole
Baltimore Oriole (link here) woof, those pictures from 2014 were bad
Scott’s Oriole
Thanks in part to our latest excursions, I can proudly say I have 7 of those already in the tin and until I looked it up for this post, I had no idea what the hell a Spot-Breasted Oriole was. Appears I need to book a trip to southeast Florida to address that missing link. I also need to get on the ball and get posts out for the rest of the Orioles still in the backlog.
It is likely you are not familiar with today’s Oriole entry unless you are lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time in in the deep southwest as this species prefers to hang out in Central America – specifically along the west coast of our connected neighbor to the south. How about a little hint to the name:
Pardon me, sir, did you see what happened?
Yeah, I did
I’s just standin’ over there by the tomatoes, and here he comes
Running through the pole beans
Through the fruits and veggies, naked as a jay bird
Ethel’s over at the jams, jelly’s and peckels
I hollered over, I said, “Don’t look, Ethel!”
She dropped the whole jar
Heavens, too late, she done been incensed
Harold Ray Ragsdale, you are a comedic genius – to this day I still know every line of that hilarious diddy.
Yes, it is the Streak in reference to this new lifer, the Streak-Backed Oriole. Luckily, we (Linda, my brother Ron and I) were in the right place at the right time back in January of 2024. We were birding the Phoenix area when we met a local birder that recommended we hit a place called Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water Ranch (link here). I never really know what to expect when I hear a recommendation to bird an urban park setting. Oftentimes, it ends up being a predominantly noisy affair with heavy concentrations of children and family picnics which isn’t the greatest when trying to pick out bird calls or small disturbances in the trees. This, however, turned out to be an absolutely fantastic place and one I highly recommend for those in the Phoenix area.
There can be a lot of people there, but there is plenty of space to spread out in and the curators of the place have created an amazing setting for a variety of birds (and birders) to enjoy. The place is immaculate with well manicured paths through desert scrub and several ponds – all loaded with quality birds!
Prior to our visit back in 2024, we checked out the eBird reports and noted the Streak-Backed Oriole rarity sighting there. That was clearly the target for the visit – problem was none of us knew what this bird looked like other than it was likely medium shaped with a sharp bill and well..likely orangy – purely based on the majority of other Orioles we had encountered in the past.
Not a lot to go on, especially being in a new location. Keeping with the right time and place theme, we encountered an older birding couple not too far into are hunt. Ron being Ron struck up a conversation with them and learned that they knew where the bird was being seen and were actually heading out to get another look. Ron is the chatty one of the family hehehe (I am sure this will draw a comment!). We continued to have a nice conversation as we headed to the back of the park. I will confess, I was hoping for more walkie and less talkie as I didn’t want to miss the chance to tin this lifer.
Eventually, we made out way to the area it was seen, but they (male and female) were nowhere to be found. There were oranges marking the spot which we soon found out was a bit of contention between the birders and park volunteers. I’ll refrain from going down that rabbit hole here and simply pointing out that is how we later found this specimen as it was actually hanging out at an orange around the corner to the path we were originally directed to.
We happened to be the only two people there for our first encounter. In this brief look I think I managed to get a sum total of 4 “proof” shots that would be sufficient for the check, but would take fingernail pulling with pliers to get me to show anybody. I cannot remember if we decided to come back later that day or the next, but on this second attempt there were plenty of other people camped out at the orange.
This time we got muuuuuch better looks…and thus the official post ha.
I hollered up at Ethel, I said, “Don’t look, Ethel!”
Too late, she’d already got a free shot
Grandstandin’ it right there in front of the home team
It was not until I got into the digital darkroom that I could really see the feature that lead to its namesake – the streaking on the back. You can see that in a few of the pictures above. The Internet references indicate that the degree of streaking contrast can vary across the region.
Unfortunately, there is not a lot I can pass on about this particular species. Cornell doesn’t cover it as it technically hangs outside of the US and Wikipedia (ugh) basically states it prefers arid woodland, savanna, grassland and shrubland. Audubon doesn’t even have much to offer beyond having a least concern conservation status, it is orangy and beats their wings fast.
In closing, I’ll just mention that we were actually at Gilbert’s Water Ranch yesterday and this Oriole is no longer there. Still a great park though and had a great time tinning the more local residents.
Take care everyone, will check back in when things settle down a bit out here. Based on all the good finds so far, you are going to have plenty of new birds to learn about this year…well, actually well into next year based on the size of my current queue ha!
Wildlife Intrigued 
💙🖐️
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Thank you, appreciate the drop in.
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💛
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Thank you Orededrum appreciate you coming by.
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A nice looking bird, but the very first thing I noticed about it was it’s big feet. Do you know if they give it some sort of advantage in life?
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You know, I don’t really know the answer to that question…hmmmm…maybe that’s a measuring stick for mate selection…more research is warranted ha. I suspect the truth is that it allows them to hang on trees with a single foot while grasping on to food with the other, but again, not an authoritative answer. Thanks for dropping in!
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Delightful and beautiful!
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Thanks Donna, one of those surprise finds that makes your day! Appreciate the drop in.
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I didn’t think you would get through the post without quoting The Streak. Ol’ Ethel got incensed and fired a shot, alright. Congratulations on your 308 species, putting you in the top 100 birders in the US of A. Beautiful photos of the Streak-backed Oriole.
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hahaha sooo many lines, so little paragraphs ha. The annual bird tally (and lifer list) is definitely doing well out here in the west! Have a few more places to go this month and hopefully will put me in a good position as the migration starts coming through. As you can tell, we were lucky enough to make it out of NM alive although as luck would have it, a rarity showed up in downtown Las Cruces. Linda asked me if I wanted to go back and get it…we both started laughing at the same time. Take care and appreciate you coming by Tim.
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There are lots of rare birds in downtown Las Cruces, but I don’t think they will help your standing in the national bird count.
Local: “Hey! Ese! What are you pointing that camera at?”
Birder: “A new rare bird called a Pendejo!”
Shots fired, but not verbal.
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You got me there Tim – I’ve learned my lesson, we manage to avoid Las Cruces both out and back which I am chalking up to a success!
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Two bird references in one post, though one of them was in verse, sort of. The Audubon reference reminds me of a line from our Intrigued required annual training videos, “it’s orange” (instead of grey). Nice capture. Hi to Ron.
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Hahaha – yes, the annual training videos are concise and to the point! Ron says hi, he left last night to head back to the heartland – betting he is going to have a rough day at work today.
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Work?! What’s that?
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An archaic form of torture where one gets up early, slogs to a building, beats one’s head against the wall and then slogs back home only to repeat the very next day.
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An archaic form of torture where you wake up, slog into a building, beat your head against a wall all day and then slog back home only to repeat the next day.
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🙌🙌🙌
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Thank you! It was a definite treat to get to photograph this visitor from the south. Take care and appreciate you coming by.
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This little guy barely made it into my Sibley’s Guide, based on his range. I love the Orioles in general, such colorful and nicely proportioned birds. Between the Hooded, Altamira and this Streaked, you could keep an army of birders puzzled for days.
And for even more puzzlement, Animal Diversity Web says that Streaks that stay in one area year-round have monomorphic plumage (same on males and females) while Streaks that migrate are dimorphic (males and females look different).
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There was definite discussion between us (Linda, Ron and I) when we had our fist encounter with no one else around as to whether this was the bird we were looking for – fortunately, it was distinct enough once we decided to “chimp” at the back of the camera and confirm the Streak characteristics. Fortunately on our next encounter there were plenty of good birders to confirm it. The Streak variability by region is very interesting, you don’t see a lot of that although I just learned by example in the field the Bell’s Vireos down here look different than the variety that passes near our hometown – kept dismissing it in the field as something else only to find out that it was (managed to go back and get better pictures of that). Also note, the Song Sparrows in Patagonia are waaaay lighter than the versions we have up in the Midwest – isn’t birding fun! Take care Sam and we know have some incredible places to bird in Arizona should you ever head that way.
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Nice detail shots. And such a cooperative subject.
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Well, the second time it was cooperative, the first time we saw it I am sure it was full of belly laughs as we tried to put “english” on our focusing to get it to curve around the multiple layers of twigs and branches. So glad we decided to go back and get better shots of it. Take care Jerry and have a great rest of your week.
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What fantastic pictures of this beautiful – and seemingly very cooperative – bird! You’ve captured such marvelous poses in these close shots!
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Thank you!! As I as replied to Jerry, the first day it wasn’t so cooperative, but on our second visit it definitely gave us some very good looks before eventually heading back into the tree line. Always glad when we get shots that we can show everyone. Take care and appreciate you dropping in.
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You certainly succeeded in doing just that!
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You are too kind!
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“Mate selection” sounds reasonable, I can go with that. 🙂
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Winner ha!
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I also had never heard of this oriole species (nor of the Spot-breasted one in FL). How satisfying that you were able to get so many crisp images.
It’s interesting to read about the orange debate. I think one of the reasons birders see so many birds in Texas is because most of the birding blinds rely on oranges to attract birds. That was definitely the case for some of the birds we were able to see there.
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Glad I could introduce a new species to you Tanja. The orange debate has gone on and will likely continue to go on so I decided just to keep out of it – it was clear to us that the couple that helped us find it had an opinion but I wasn’t taking the debate bait. The part that surprised me the most was how stringent the place was being and apparently the birders in the area were giving in – as soon as the park rangers would take them down someone would put them back up from their stash as soon as they left. I found it quite entertaining! You are right, Texas uses oranges a LOT and most of the bid refuges and birding hotspots have them minimally around their blinds and feeding stations. I am sure you saw them at Laguna Vista when you were there and the Estero volunteers even put them out around their RV area (a great place to bird if you happen to be there). Honestly, probably isn’t a big deal in Texas as there are usually orange and pineapple groves nearby the birds can enjoy anytime they was as well. Take care Tanja and hope you had a great trip through south Texas.
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I didn’t know that there even was a controversy surrounding oranges. We have been putting them out in our yard for the orioles for years, along with grape jelly. Cornell seems to think it’s ok to do, and that is good enough for me. We have observed that many other birds besides orioles have a sweet tooth also, and it seems a nice change from seeds and suet.
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Eh, I don’t have any issue with it and I definitely do not think the place needs to get all uppity about it, especially with the fact this either brought in or sustaining a rarity that is bringing large numbers of new visitors to their spot. Not in my backyard so whatever ha. Other birds will definitely partake when they get a hankering for something sweet,so I’m with you!
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