The Secret Life of A Black-Naped Oriole

Humans don't stay long enough in one place to focus on anyone's lives but their own. We rush out of bed every morning to spend 8 hours or more somewhere we might not really want to be, and if we're lucky, spend the night with a couple of friends and have a drink or two. The night ends when we're back in bed, only to wake up to the same routine.

This Black-Naped Oriole is different. With his bright yellow feathers and distinct black streaks, he's easily recognizable hiding among fruit trees if you stay long enough to pay attention. He's not just an early bird, his distinct black and yellow body might remind you of a busy bee. Running out of bed and screaming his heart out as he goes, he greets the rushing Human with a beautiful melody amidst the roaring of cars and trucks in the background. 

Everyday is a different adventure for him. Who knows what kind of treasures are lurking in the streets today? Where might the winds take him, and what visitors will approach his homely nest while he's away? 

With no agenda in mind, he flies off as he does every morning, not knowing a thing about the physics of his flight, but gliding along perfectly and gracefully nonetheless. He floats under the thrust of the wind, letting their invisible currents carry him wherever he needs to be. 

As he glides along, he catches a glimpse of a rod that almost seemed to be beaming under the morning light. Weightlessly, he swoops down in one fluid motion, diving down towards today's treasure. Quickly grasping the perfectly straight branch between his beak, he prepares to launch off the concrete before anyone else spots this discovery. Finally, a branch worth getting excited about instead of the thin, fragile and crooked ones that litter the street. 

Fumbling along with a branch twice his own body length, he takes a moment to adjust before catching the right amount of air under his wings. He's greeted by a friend as he soars towards their shared tree and they chirp excitedly about this new find, wondering how to put it to use as soon as possible.

They worked together to stick the branch directly into the center of his current nest. If a rushing Human paid attention, they might have noticed these Black-Naped Orioles spending their day working for whatever they can get, constructing a mansion of their dreams, only to go to bed and do it all over again tomorrow.