Hooded orioles nesting in the palm tree

We finally are able to observe hooded orioles nesting in the neighbors' palm tree.

As you may remember, in an earlier post several months ago, strong winds blew down a dried palm frond from this tree into our driveway. And woven onto the palm frond was an empty nest, the handiwork of a hooded oriole. It probably was an old nest from last year.

Last month I spotted a hooded oriole in the lemon tree, so I knew they must be back, having completed their annual migration from Mexico.

But it wasn't until this past weekend that we realized that the hooded orioles are nesting in the palm tree. I heard some odd bird chortling, different sounds from the usual bird sounds we are accustomed to around our neighborhood. And the sounds were coming from the neighbors' palm tree. This tree is at least as tall as a 10 story high building, and provides an ideal nesting site to hide from prying human eyes.

For the past couple of years I observed American crows nesting there, so it would be interesting to know how the orioles managed to oust the crows and take over the palm tree.

In the top image you see the yellow body and black head of the parent oriole looking out from the crown of the palm tree.

In the image above a parent hooded oriole is perched on a palm frond. The black head and beak is facing toward the left.

The parent bird is sitting on the nest.

The arrow is pointing to the bird's head in profile facing out.