I thought it strange when my husband reported seeing an Orchard Oriole on a car in a parking lot at Lower Huron Metropark near Belleville, Michigan, pecking at the side view mirror.
My husband explained it seemed the bird saw its reflection in the mirror.
We drove to the metropark today and as we came up to the turn into the parking lot, my husband excitedly said, “There it is! And it’s doing the same behavior, using its bill to peck at the car’s driver-side mirror.”
I looked in disbelief, as the deep orange and black bird took several more taps at the outside mirror before flying off to a nearby flowering crab tree.
We pulled into the parking lot, parked the car, and I got out with my binoculars to look for the bird in the crabapple.
While I could hear the bird singing in the tree, it was well-hidden by white blossoms. Took me several minutes before I was finally able to find it.
After waiting several minutes to see if the Orchard Oriole would return back to the car (it didn’t), I continued on the trail to look for some of the many warblers migrating through.
And managed to see the Black-and-white Warbler, Palm Warbler, and Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Not my best Orchard Oriole photo. You can barely make out the burnt orange color, but the white side bars on the black wings do stand out.
I’ve added the Orchard Oriole to my list of birds I’ve seen with unexpected behaviors.
Years ago, on a visit to Florida, I saw Sandhill Cranes tapping their bill on ground-floor glass patio door windows.
Like the Orchard Oriole, it’s likely the crane saw its reflection in the window. And thought it was a potential mate or intruder to the territory the bird already claimed.
