Watching this young male Orchard Oriole as he cautiously approached the water for a batch was quite entertaining. He slowly worked his way down from the canopy checking several vantage points along the way to make sure nothing dangerous was waiting for him. A couple of times when he was almost there he was startled by another bird or some other perceived threat and flew back up to the safety of the tree. Eventually a Gray Catbird arrived at the water and hopped in flinging water all over. Seeing another bird bathing must have been enough to convince this little guy that the water was safe because as soon as the catbird had started its bath, the oriole flew right in and joined.

www.texastargetbirds.com

_MG_1244-web

Icterus spurius