Baltimore Oriole, Juvenile Male

When I first took this photo, I believed this was a female Baltimore. However, when I downloaded it from the camera, I came to believe this is a juvenile male. His head is too black and his body too orange to be a female, I believe. I get a large number of orioles in my yard every year.

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Technical Details

Canon 60D, Canon 70-300mm IS USM Zoom, f/5.6, 1/350 sec., ISO 1000. Processed in ACR and PSE 2020 for exposure and cropping. Topaz De-noise applied. Photo captured May 3, 2022.

3 Likes

Oh what a cool little dude. Chirpy and bright for sure. The greens I find a bit too much and would take them down just a little. And the blacks look a little purple/blue to me, too. White balance and color tones are so tough to gauge sometimes. There isn’t a whole lot of feather detail, but the pose is dynamic. I hope ours come back soon. There is usually a pair around. Once they built a nest way out on a branch and it hung over the lawn.

Very nice catch in a nice setting!! I’d take a little off the left to get the bird out of center, although I do like the dark OOF area in the UL.

Hi Terry,

Decenter with a crop from the LH side will help the comp. During migration, you will see a variety of plumage due to the progress of the molt. Nice pose and the head is especially sharp…Jim

Thanks @_Kris @Diane_Miller @Jim_Zablotny for your comments and suggestions.

@_Kris I have read that these Orioles tend to build their nests on the end of a branch hanging over a hard, bare surface. This might be true, as a female has built a nest overhanging our driveway the last three years.