Feathered friends, rejoice: the Smithsonian National Zoo’s new oriole chicks now have names.
The Zoo said in a news release that keepers celebrated the arrival of seven orchard oriole chicks — “the first of their species to hatch in human care” — in June at the Bird Friendly Coffee Farm Aviary.
Shortly after, three Baltimore oriole chicks hatched in the same exhibit in a nearby tree.
Per the Zoo, the winning names for the first seven chicks are:
- Charm, based on Baltimore’s nickname of Charm City
- Chessie, short for the Chesapeake Bay estuary, which borders both sides of Maryland
- Crabcake, Maryland’s favorite seafood dish
- Harriet, after Marylander Harriet Tubman, who guided enslaved people to freedom as a conductor of the Underground Railroad
- Thurgood, after Marylander Thurgood Marshall, who served as the Supreme Court’s first African American justice from 1967 to 1991
- Zappa, after famed musician Frank Zappa, who was born in Baltimore
- Francis, after Marylander Francis Scott Key, who wrote “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the national anthem of the U.S.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore partnered with the Zoo to give names, all of which are inspired by the city’s baseball team, to the three Baltimore oriole chicks.
The first is named after Brooks Robinson, former third baseman and Hall of Famer.
The second is named after Cal Ripken, Jr., former shortstop and Hall of Famer.
The governor picked Adam Jones for the third chick.
Both types of bird are Maryland natives; the Baltimore oriole itself is the state bird.
