More on Clem Oriole -
 Mary Whitcomb wrote this to me this afternoon:
 

Hi Jane,  My older son, Dale wondered if offering Clem a bird house would help and here is Bryan Pfeiffer’s response about how the oriole would not use it.   Mary

Hi, Mary

Well, this is, of course, an idea with all the right intentions, but I suspect it wouldn't work.  Orioles aren't really interested in getting "indoors." Natural tree cavities aren't in their biology, so they're unlikely to seek out a bird house. Basically, there's not much you can do in this situation. I'll point out that birds normally don't stick around like this because we're feeding them. Other factors--day length, ambient temperature, food scarcity, their internal clocks--tend to trigger migration. Sometimes young birds like this just "don't get the memo." I suspect that the bird's wires are crossed--and your feeder is a found refuge rather than the proximate cause of the failure to go south.

So, as a result, this oriole may not how up one day--for any number of reasons, including that it came to its senses and migrated. Or it may perish here in Vermont. Most of the time, of course, we never know. But so many birds live and di all the time (out of our sights and minds). Half or more of the songbirds that hatch in any given [season] never make it to their first birthday. It's basically nature (and natural selection's) taking its course. Sometimes we get to see a bit more of the drama--including in Duxbury! :-)

By the way, David Budbill had a similar experience with a Rusty Blackbird many years ago. He turned it into a novella called "Broken Wing," published after David died. [Story of "Broken Wing.]

Keep me posted on your wayward oriole! Thanks!

All the best, --Bryan

www.bryanpfeiffer.com