I had posted earlier about finding 4 Baltimore Oriole babies on the ground 
after their nest had broken, presumably after the rains on Thursday 
evening.  I found them on Friday afternoon.  They were being fed and cared 
for on the ground by the parents, but they were covered with ants and not 
feathered out.  I had an old Orchard Oriole nest that I had cut out of a 
tree 4 years ago.  I tied this to the tree and put the babies in.  Within 
30 minutes, they were being fed.

They made it thru the night on Friday and appeared to be thriving on 
Saturday.  Saturday evening was quite cool and damp and at 6:30 am on 
Sunday, I found 2 of them dead and 2 chilled to the bone.  I tried to warm 
up the 2 survivors but they were pretty weak.  I noticed no feeding 
activity during the day on Sunday and both were dead by Monday morning.

On Saturday, I thought they were going to be fine because of the all the 
feeding activity.  I hypothesize that the problem was the temporary nest.  
I think that the Momma just did not know how to sit on a nest of a 
completely different structure than what it built.  Without the night time 
warmth and protection of a Mother, the birds did not have much of a chance.

Thanks to those who emailed me directly.
Jim Wilson
Queenstown