We noticed this beautifully colored bird hanging around the banana gardens these last few weeks. Took a photo and got a positive ID as Hooded Oriole. They are a migratory bird that likes to nest in bananas and palms. Then we spotted the female and got photos her too. Next we noticed they were doing something under the banana leaves, thought maybe they were eating bugs but nope, they had begun nest building in a banana leaf that hangs over my driveway in front my garage that I work out of daily. The odd thing is that they are super skittish and very camera shy, so why the driveway? That night I BBQ'd maybe 10 feet from the nest site. The next day they started building in the other garden at the rear of the yard and away from the garage. So I went and bought a bird bath and left food out for them. Then they disappeared for a day. Though maybe having other birds around the nest because of the bath scared them off. But they came back, watched some birds bathing and went back to nest building! We are really excited to have them here and as tough as it will be I'll try not to disturb them too much, although I do need to harvest a PK bunch on the next plant over in the next few weeks.
Here are some pics.
The male
The female
The beginning of a nest. Notice how they take threads from a palm tree and sew them into the bottom of the leaf on both sides.
The nest in the rear garden as of this afternoon. See how they connect the two sides to make a hanging basket that will be filled with stuff. Possibly dog fur as we have plenty around form our Aussies.
I'll update the tread later if they are successful at making babies.