Photography of Black-naped Oriole

One of the favorite songs for people of our age must have been "The Snail and the Oriole" when they were children. Snails are common, but decades have passed, but the oriole has never been seen.

One afternoon last summer, an acquaintance of the photography teacher sent me a WeChat message telling me that he had photographed a pair of orioles building a nest in the park near my home, and sent me a picture he took. The photo of the oriole, it turns out that the oriole looks really yellow! Seeing that it would be a long time to wait for get off work, but looking out the window at the blue sky and white clouds, I seemed to have heard the chirping of birds. I couldn't sit still, so I picked up my camera and tripod and went straight to the park.

I heard a short but clear and melodious bird call in the distance. I seemed to have heard it before, but I didn’t know what bird it was. I thought it must be the oriole. According to the positioning map sent to me by the teacher, I turned around for a long time, but there was no shadow of the oriole, but the sound of the bird was getting closer and closer. Suddenly I saw a yellow bird flying overhead. Following its flight path, a tree After careful observation of a tree, I finally saw a large poplar tree with lush branches more than ten meters high. On a branch growing out near the top of the tree, I could vaguely see a yellow bird standing on it alertly. It was Oriole bird!

There is a bowl-sized nest made of dead branches at the feet of the oriole. In the blink of an eye, it jumps into the nest, occasionally sticking its head out to look around, feeling that there is no danger, and then returns to the nest. It jumped out of the nest, put its feet on the branches, and flew away with a cry. It is estimated that the chicks in the nest have hatched, and the parents are busy looking for food for the babies. While the big bird was away, I quickly found a camera position and changed several angles. Finally, I was able to take a complete picture of the oriole and its nest through the gaps between trees and leaves. So I set up the camera and took cover, and the rest All we have to do is wait patiently.

The chicks have just hatched and don’t eat much, so the parents don’t come back very frequently, and sometimes you won’t see their shadows for ten or twenty minutes. The oriole is not a very big bird, but its call is loud and penetrating. In addition, the surrounding trees are tall and dense with leaves, so I always hear its sound first and don't see its shadow for a long time. When I find it, I don't have time to focus on it. Already in the nest. A few hours passed and I didn't take a few photos, but I was still very excited, just like a fan meeting an idol or meeting an old friend in a foreign land. After all, decades have passed from knowing its name to actually seeing it.

This oriole is golden yellow in color with black feathers on its wings and tail. There is a broad black band on the headrest, which extends to both sides and is connected to the black eye stripes, forming a black band around the top of the head, which is very eye-catching on the golden head. I looked it up online and found out it's called the black-naped oriole.

Orioles mainly move in the canopy of tall trees and rarely go down to the ground. They mainly eat insects, but also fruits and seeds. Its song is crisp, melodious and elastic, and it can change its tone and imitate the songs of other birds. It sings most frequently in the early morning, sometimes while flying.

Black-naped orioles are mainly summer migratory birds in China, and some are resident birds. They usually migrate to northern China to breed in April-May every year and migrate south in September-October. It is a low-risk species.