SLEEPY EYE — Bird watchers from hundreds of miles away are reported to be looking for a rare bird seen at a bird feeder in Sleepy Eye on Friday, May 10.

Sleepy Eye bird watcher Brian Smith said he saw a Bullock’s oriole at his bird feeder on 2nd Ave. S.W. Since then, people from as far away as Northern Minnesota have been touring Sleepy Eye, carrying binoculars, looking for the bird not on the common Minnesota bird list.

After Smith saw the bird in his yard, he said it was a reported to have been seen in bird feeders near his residence, near South Park and near 4th Avenue S.W. and Maple Street.

Smith said the bird, commonly seen in the summer from Western South Dakota to the Pacific coast, has been seen in Minnesota only in the Twin Cities in 2013 and Duluth in 1968.

News of the bird being spotted quickly spread on Facebook and by a Minnesota bird watching club, the Minnesota Ornithologists Union.

Adult male Bullock’s orioles have contrasting orange and black plumage, a black throat patch and a white wing bar. The bird’s underparts, breast and face are orange or yellow. The back, wings and tail are black.

Both male and female Bullock’s orioles sing. Males are considered to have a sweeter voice, but females are thought to be better singers. Their song is similar to that of the Baltimore oriole, but faster.

The birds mainly eat insects, berries and nectar. Other fruits eaten include oranges and grapes. They have been seen using hummingbird feeders. They also eat grasshoppers, crickets, wasps, bugs and spiders, according to the Audubon Society.

For more information, visit https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/bullocks-oriole.

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.