The Baltimore Oriole

The story

Audubon gives the Baltimore oriole — named for the golden-and-black livery of the Calvert family, colonial proprietors of Maryland — a full domestic scene: a mated pair and a fledgling worked around the species' extraordinary hanging nest, a deep woven pouch lashed to a tulip-tree branch entirely from plant fiber, the male's contribution limited to gathering material while the female does the actual weaving. Audubon painted the tulip tree's distinctive flowers and leaves with the same care he gave the birds, following his consistent practice of setting each species within its real habitat rather than against a blank studio ground. What to notice: the nest itself, more than the birds, is the plate's real subject — few North American birds build anything as structurally ambitious, and Audubon clearly knew it was the more remarkable achievement.