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Hi folks. This might be better directed to "Bird Files", but I couldn't find a place to ask questions there. I'm in the Sangre de Cristo mountains in southern Colorado. For the second strait spring, we have a beautiful bright yellow bird that feeds at our humming bird feeders. There are actually two this year, and they will move on in a couple of days. They look like a large American Goldfinch, without as much black on the head, and more vivid yellow. There is a little black under the beak, and wings are black with a white wing bar. It lands in the pinons with the grossbeaks, tanagers, and all the other birds feeding in the morning. It does not go near the feeders I fill with a mix of millet, thistle, and mostly black oil sunflower seed, but lands on the hummingbird feeders and drinks, sometimes hanging upside down to check surroundings. They are quite skittish, so I don't have a close up photo. I cannot find anything that looks like them in the two reference books I have. Does anyone have any ideas, based on my rough description? Thank you in advance.
I wonder if this is a Bullock's Oriole, they're found in Colorado. Orioles readily come to nectar feeders, especially those with perches. They are not a seed eater, but I saw our Baltimore taking a few bites of our suet today. Then he hopped on a tube feeder, but he acted as if he was investigating the area and was checking everything out before settling onto an orange.
Thank you both for the reply. I considered it to be a Bullock's Oriole, as both reference books I have show it to be in the area. The reason I was questioning it was that both books show and describe it as orange. The "Sibley" field guide book show 1st year males as yellow. Each of these birds were brilliant yellow. Beautiful birds.
We get them here in Pueblo, too. They nest along the Arkansas late spring & early summer. They disappear mid-summer - I've wondered whether they go farther north or turn back south early.
