They pay no attention to each other, I do it all the time.

My Orioles and Hummingbirds eat out of the same humminbird feeder, at separate times - lots of fun to watch!

I'm curious about feeding Orioles also. I had a pair in my yard last night, and they seemed to trying to use the hummingbird feeder, but didn't appear to be having much success. I've seen nectar feeders for orioles. Are these recommended? What are the differences between an oriole and hummingbird feeder? I really enjoy my hummers, but would love to have some orioles as regular visitors also.

ksflowergirl:

One of the reasons that I asked this question was due to the fact that I an making use of a second WBU (Wild Birds Unlimited) Advanced Pole System, which can be found at the link noted below.

I specifically decided to opt for a second advanced pole system because I found out that the racoons that traverse our back yard have a love for not only grape jelly and orange marmalade, they also have a foundness for the nectar in the feeders.

http://www.wbu.com/prod/mnt.htm

Unfortunately, this link, photo, and pdf file really do not show the full extent of the system. Althought relatively expensive - depending upon how many 'adapters' you make use of, it is not so in the long run - the system is very well designed and is extremely well built. In short, it will last for many, many years - nay decades.

I was also fortunate that the WBU store in Traverse City, Michigan mailed out a nice coupon for $15.00 off on any purchases over $70.00 - so that another system cost me a total of (with tax) around $62.00 after the coupon.

Currently, I have three sets of 'arms' - I just added the third "arm" today - from which to hang a variety of Oriole and Hummingbird feeders and one very nice hanging pot containing two Fushia plants.

If you're fortunate to live in an area where there might be several WBU stores, you might check them all out - even if you have to travel a bit of distance. In my situation, I live in one part of the state of Michigan and work - during the week - in another part. So I have two WBU stores not to far from where I work and live. Each store has its own set of prices and I have thus found that the store in Midland, Michigan - about 30 miles from where I 'live' and work during the week offers the parts of the pole system much cheaper than the one near home.

Since several WBU stores have web sites, you might wish to check out the variety of prices that might be available for the variious parts in their advanced pole system.

Now with that said, I have two Oriole feeders. One is made of recycled milk cartons, but looks like wood. It is supposed to last for many decades of use and I decided to invest in one. This particular version offers two sturdy plastic 'cups' which can be filled with jelly. I put Grape Jelly in one of the cups and Orange Marmalade in the other. I haven't bothered to place orange halves on the 'spikes' in this feeder.

Here is a link to that type of feeder.

http://www.backyardbird.com/snof.html

The other Oriole feeder that I purchased can be filled with nector and there are a few small indentations into which you can also add grape jelly. And, if you so wish, you can 'spike' an orange half on the hanging post.

Here's the link to that type of feeder.

http://www.buytelescopes.com/product.asp?pid=10093

With regard to the (suspected) difference between Hummingbird and Oriole feeders, I believe that the diameter of the holes are slightly different - or so they appear to be. The Hummingbird holes are smaller and the Oriole feeder holes are bigger - but only slight so.

As for Hummingbird feeders, I have three different types:

Here's the first:

Droll Yankees Little Flyer 2 Hummingbird Feeder

http://www.buytelescopes.com/product.asp?t=136&pid=3677&m=

Here's the second:

One of the Colibri Hummingbird Feeder(s)

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=9628&N=2005+113595

And here's the third:

A DECORATIVE HAND PAINTED METAL HUMMINGBIRD FEEDER made by Opus. It is very well constructed and should last for a decade or two. I found mine at a local pet/bird supply store for around $1.50 less.

http://www.birds-n-garden.com/hummingbird_feeders8.html

Unfortunately, I haven't seen hide nor hair of any of these two feathered creatures in our gardens in northwestern Michigan. For the last several weeks, it has been rainy and cool to rather cold - last night it got down to around 38 degrees. As a consequence of this cool/rainy weather, many of the nectar producing flowers are not in bloom and most are just beginning to make their appearance in our garden and probably won't come into bloom for several more weeks.

Finally, if you're still in the process of adding various kinds of plant material to attract Hummingbirds, Birds, Butterflies, etc. to your garden, you might wish to make use of the excellent 'PlantFinder' search tool buried within the Missouri Botanical Garden web site. By doing a search for plants that attract hummingbirds, I came across Phlox paniculata 'Mount Fuji'. Information on this plant can be found at the link provided below.

http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=E600

The main search tool in the 'PlantFinder' can be found at the site below this commentary. Once you arrive at their main search site, you can click on "attracts hummingbirds", etc. and then key in other factors - zone, color, type of lighting, and so on and so forth and come up with a nice variety of plant material from which to choose.

And if you look carefully, this wondrous garden tool also provides links to various sources. And, it goes without question that if you are traveling to or through the St. Louis area, a two day stop at this superb garden is a must.

Hope you find this "dissertation" quite useful.

Best regards in your gardening endeavors.

Bill

Here is a link that might be useful: Phlox paniculata 'Mount Fuji'

the orioles here feed from my flat hummingbird feeders, when they come the hummers quickly disperse, but hummers return immediately when the oriole finishes. I have not seen them together on the same feeder at the same time.

I use a large Oriole feeder, only difference is the holes are larger for the bigger bird. I cut an orange in half and poke a hole in the end and slip it over the metal hanger and slide it down the shaft orange facing up. It attracts them better and gets them used to a feeder. Sometimes they are a little slow to catch on to a feeder. But hummers catch on instantly.

Good Luck

I was perusing the internet regarding hummingbird predators and found an article describing an male oriole capturing a hummingbird as he hovered in front of a flower. Both hummers and orioles were feeding from the same plant.

Also noted as predators that we may not think of: large frogs, preying mantis, spider webs (orbs spider webs were noted several times), as well as, of course, cats.

I think that I would choose which bird I really wanted to attract, and focus on them, and, at least NOT put the feeders near each other.

Betty, I would be interested to see your source on that...an oriole "capturing" a hummer seems far-fetched, to put it mildly. I could see an oriole competing aggressively with a hummer for a feeder--although my money would be on the hummer!--but the term "capture" seems to infer eating or killing. Can you please clarify?

Last year we had about a dozen hummers around our feeders at all times. This year they came, then the Orioles arrived and seemed to run off the hummers. I went to the store and bought a feeder for the Orioles plus a feeder for jelly. The Orioles didn't seem to like their feeder and ate out of the hummer feeders. Now I have no hummers at all,I thought maybe the Orioles ran them off. Is this possible? Also I had a problem with the Orioles flying into my picture windows. They would peck at them all day. What would cause them to do that?

I put up two hummingbird feeders, one in the front of the house and one in the back of the house. The Orioles have taken over. I have only seen the hummingbirds feeding twice and the Orioles are constantly there twirling the feeder in circles, flinging the nectar juice out of the feeders and have drained both of them in no time at all. Is there any way to keep the orioles out of the hummingbird feeders? Some kind of contraption to put on the feeders? I love to look at the Orioles but they are becoming a nuisance.

Hello,
I also find the orioles to be a bit of a nuisance-so when I catch them at the hummingbird feeder on my deck, I open the door and yell "not for you piggy birds!!!"...very effective.

For those of you who DON'T want orioles, try removing the perches from your feeders. Hummingbirds can feed regardless whereas I believe orioles will have a much more difficult time as I'm not sure that they "hover" like hummers do.

This is a very late post, but it's not good to have orioles and hummingbirds at the same feeder. I just saw an oriole attacking a hummingbird perched on a nectar feeder. I yelled at the oriole, and he hissed at the hummingbird after lunging at it. They both flew off. I might try that perch removal suggestion.

I've never witnessed a problem with our orioles and hummingbirds sharing the feeders, and I watched them a lot. But I have multiple feeders available, so the birds tend to not fret about competition for the nectar. In the rare event that I am late refilling, and empty feeders condense the need to use only one or two, aggression between the hummingbirds heats up. But the hummers just disperse when the orioles arrive. I see more oriole to oriole conflict over feeders in favored locations.

Thats an interesting thought as I have launched an oriole feeder this year along with my many hummer feeders . Hummers use the oriole feeder although no orioles have found my feeders as yet.