RIO GRANDE VALLEY, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Nothing says South Texas quite like blooming ebony trees and swaying Altamira oriole nests, or towering tepeguajes and dangling woven baskets, or flowering retamas and tropical Altamira abodes.

It is peak nesting season for the bright orange Altamira oriole, and this colorful denizen of the tropics just barely edges into the state in the Rio Grande Valley.

Birds are capable of extraordinary engineering feats, and the Altamira oriole constructs one of the most impressive dwellings, as the two-foot-long nest is the longest of any North American bird.

It all starts with a few strands of plant fiber tightly woven to a specially selected branch. What follows will be hundreds and hundreds of trips to the evolving structure before the intricately wove

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