The only Baltimore Orioles most people see or know much about are the ones in Major League Baseball uniforms. The strikingly colorful male oriole bird is a beauty to behold, but you need to know when and where to find them — other than game days at Camden Yards — as the wild birds become more scarce. Baltimore orioles are migratory birds that spend winters to our south and might fly as many as 2,500 miles each way in migration.
The birds found in Maryland mostly winter in Central America and northern South America, but also could winter in Mexico, Florida and the Caribbean. The orioles come north in the spring to breed. Their breeding grounds extend across eastern North America, from Newfoundland in the north, west to central Canada, and throughout the Great Plains and to the Appalachians and the East Coast.
They raise their young and then fly south, most leaving in September. Every year, a few orioles will linger during the Maryland winter. A rare winter spotting occurred in Anne Arundel County in early January 2022.
The best time to find an oriole in Maryland is from early May to early September. Newly arriving male orioles sing from treetop perches to attract a mate. Nesting orioles occur throughout Maryland with the most sightings in Howard, Garrett, Alleghany and Frederick counties.
Your best chance of spotting them and the elaborate bag-shaped hanging nests they weave is at the edges of woods, particularly near water or in open areas with scattered taller deciduous .
