Oriolus xanthornus
Size: 23 – 25cm
Weight: 46 – 79g
Found: A resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia. It is a bird of open woodland and cultivation.
Description: The male is striking, with the typical oriole black and yellow colouration. The plumage is predominantly yellow, with a solid black hood, and black also in the wings and tail centre.
The female black-hooded oriole is a drabber bird with greenish underparts, but still has the black hood. Young birds are like the female, but have dark streaking on the underparts, and their hood is not solidly black, especially on the throat.
Diet: Its food is insects and fruit, especially figs, found in the tree canopies where they spend much of their time.
Comment: A folk tale from Bengal has it that an unfortunate girl of a merchant family was tortured by her mother-in-law. Troubled by various incidents she smeared herself with turmeric paste and covered herself with a sooty earthen pot and killed herself. A goddess resurrected her as a black hooded oriole and a Bengali name for the bird is “benebou” or merchant’s wife while another name is “haldi pakhi” or turmeric bird.
More in this category
