What bird was it?

[mnhunter2]

I had a med sized bird, bigger than a goldfinch, smaller than an oriola dark red with alot of black on it at our feeder in southern minnesota any ideas on what it was?

[LeeKen]

Scarlet Tanager?

[Steve Foss]

Do a search for a male American redstart or an orchard oriole and see if either of those is the right one.

[buzzsaw]

To give you an idea of the two species mentioned... these were both recent backyard images.. maybe one of them is what you saw?

Orchard Oriole

Scarlet Tanager

[Bryce]

Too cool. Was just about to post another what the heck am I seeing post but first decided to look at this post. An orchard oriole was what had me pondering. Going to pull out the big bird book to see what I can find out about them. First time bird for me along with some american redstarts that were a bit tricky to ID. Both bird are fairly skittish to get a real good eyeball view. Thanks for the pic.

[wsanders]

I also saw a pair of those today when I was golfing at the Territories Golf Course in St. Cloud. I wasn't sure what they were and looked it up in my bird book and they were American Redstarts.

P.S. On hole nine I got a double eagle !!!!!!!!!!

[1DIRTBALL]

You will have to forgive the uninformed. What is the difference between an Orchard Oriole and a Baltimore Oriole? Or are they the same bird?

[Steve Foss]

Dirtball, they are different species.

The key difference is the color of the orange. The orchard oriole has a darker, duller orange, almost a chestnut color, while the Baltimore oriole is a bright, loud orange. The orchard has a solid black tail, the Baltimore a tail with both black and orange (best seen in flight).

The orchard is less common, too.

[knoppers]

I also saw a pair of those today when I was golfing at the Territories Golf Course in St. Cloud. I wasn't sure what they were and looked it up in my bird book and they were American Redstarts.

P.S. On hole nine I got a double eagle !!!!!!!!!!

congrates on the double eagle, I have never done that.

[mnhunter2]

I am sure that it was an orchard oriole, thanks for the help!