In Maricopa County? No Way...

On June 24th, I had just started what would be a full day of birding in Coconino County, which is a county that is under-birded by me.  I planned to cover a variety of elevations and habitats for the course of two days of the 24th and 25th.  At my first stop, I got a text from Caleb Strand with a few pictures of a screenshot from a discussion of a photographed oriole at the Hassayampa River Preserve.  Birders called it a Bullock's Oriole and birders also called it a Hooded Oriole.  It was confusing, but Chris Benesh chimed in and said it looked like a Streak-backed Oriole to him.  I was intrigued at the photograph, which was of the bird's frontside and not the backside.  The backside would be the best indicator, because the Streak-backed Oriole is a well-named bird.  Cheryl Gross was the photographer of the bird, and she was asked to show more pictures of the bird.  She sent in some more pictures and said that the bird had been building a nest.  By looking at her pictures, not only was it evident that she had a female Streak-backed Oriole, but the nest the oriole was making was different than the nests that are built by Hooded and Bullock's Orioles.  It was a wonderful way to identify the bird from two aspects.  I couldn't believe that there was an active Streak-backed Oriole nest in Maricopa County.  Questions were asked of who her mate was or if she had a mate.  Was there a male Streak-backed Oriole nearby?

As the 24th was a Wednesday and the Hassayampa River Preserve is open during summer months from Thursday to Sunday, I decided to spend my day in Coconino County and come back that same day so I could chase the Streak-backed Oriole.  I was pumped up at the chance I had to get this Mexican rarity in Maricopa County.  In Arizona, Streak-backed Oriole has nested before, and it is a casual visitor otherwise.  When one is reported, it always has a lot of birders who want to chase and seek.  There were a few years that a male Streak-backed Oriole spent the winter months at Gilbert Water Ranch, and it was right before I got involved with the Arizona birding community.  It was something I wished I would've seen and not missed by a year or two, and I was glad that I would have a chance for this bird.  In 2016, I did get to see a nice male Streak-backed Oriole at a stakeout spot in Yuma County.

Eric Hough works at the Hassayampa River Preserve as their ranger.  He was working the day the oriole was found, and he went out to re-find it.  Chrissy Smith was with him, and they went out and relocated the nest along the Mesquite Meander Trail of the Preserve.  It was right over the trail, and they decided to close about 100 feet of the trail off so the bird could have space for nesting.  What Eric and Chrissy did was awesome because it gave the bird guaranteed breathing room from people swarming the area, but they also did it from a distance where people could still see the bird very well.  Eric and Chrissy saw the bird that evening when they went out.  By scanning the tree, Eric also found another nest that had been built by the oriole.  It was apparent that she was present at the Hassayampa River Preserve last year too, and had built that nest last year!  I couldn't believe it.  It turned out that the Oriole was photographed on June 9th and 23rd by Cheryl before it was identified by Chris Benesh on June 24th.  It was also observed and photographed by Rachel Stringham on June 6th, and she realized that she had photographed the female Streak-backed Oriole.

On June 25th, I headed out to the Hassayampa Preserve and got there right at opening time.  There were many birders there, and I would stake out the viewing spots for the Oriole for most of the day with Dara, Jeff, Derik, Erin, Mary, Eric, Chrissy, Caleb, and Kav.  It was a lot of fun, and the Oriole would make many appearances.  When I first walked up to the nest from one side of the Mesquite Meander Trail, the nest stood out.

After hearing some chatter calls from Orioles, it didn't take long for the female fly into the nest and make a very brief visit.  When she did this, the nest bobbed back-and-fourth, and it was evident that something made the nest move.  It's almost like watching a bobber go up-and-down while fishing.  She would peek her head out for a half-second or so before flying off and making routine quick visits to her nest.

The nest was placed under the canopy of a cottonwood tree, and below a mistletoe clump on the cottonwood.  At times throughout the day when going to both viewpoints, the female Streak-backed Oriole gave us birders some awesome views.  It was very hard to see at times.  When describing key field marks to a female of this species, AZFO photo editors David and Lauren describe it as:  "Heavy-based straight bill with black on underside of lower mandible, brightest orange on the face and particularly the malar region, white edging to the wing feathers".  And of course, streaks on the back if the bird is viewed well enough!

A few times the female Streak-backed Oriole was seen in what looked to be in copulation pose with another oriole.  For awhile we thought it was a younger male Streak-backed, but Chris Benesh chimed in again and pointed out why it was a male Bullock's Oriole she seemed to be paired with.  Mary got some awesome photos of the birds (SEE AZFO PAGE AT LINK HERE) as they seemed to be in copulation pose.  When the two birds were present at once, it was hard for me to get a good look at them, yet alone a picture, as they moved through dense habitat.  In the days to come, a female Bronzed Cowbird was also seen entering and leaving the Orioles nest.  Perhaps the cowbird was getting ready to give the Oriole a different responsibility.

A week later on July 2nd, I returned to the Preserve again to meet up with Caleb.  The Streak-backed Oriole made brief visits to the area, and didn't come directly to the nest.  But she perched above the nest and I was in the right spot to get off a few lucky shots!

I got took photos of a few other birds along the Hassayampa River during the Streak-backed Oriole adventures.  Young Vermilion Flycatchers and a few cooperative Yellow-breasted Chats.

As I write today, the female Streak-backed Oriole continues at the Hassayampa River Preserve.  Time will tell if she produces young or if things were put on hold by Bronzed Cowbirds.  The Hassayampa River corridor is one that hosts an incredible variety of birds.  There have been many incredible rarities that have shown up there over the years, but the rarities that stand out to me most are those that are mainly from riparian areas in southeastern Arizona and Mexico.  Hassayampa has annual breeding populations of Gray Hawk and Tropical Kingbird, which are more expected.  At times, Thick-billed Kingbird has nested.  A Green Kingfisher was a remarkable bird that found the Preserve, and it stayed in the area for about six months.  When having conversations with Caleb and Eric about what to watch for in the future at the Hassayampa River Preserve, birds that the three of us mentioned were Yellow-green Vireo, Rose-throated Becard, and Nutting's Flycatcher.  Hopefully it won't take too long for these birds to show up...it wouldn't surprise me if they did!