Black Hooded Oriole (imm)

[Debasis Bose]

An interesting tale about Black Hooded Oriole: Folk from Bengal says that the origin of the bird is from an unfortunate wife of a merchant family. The girl was tortured by her mother-in-law who used to make her starve for the slightest mistake. In one such occasion the girl was starving for two days and yet she had to make pithas (a handmade sweet dish of Bengal). The girl, who could not bear her hunger any more started eating hot pithas directly from the vessel as her mother-in-law was out of sight. Her garments was already stained by the turmeric paste she used for the cooking of other dishes. Suddenly the mother-in-law came and in utter shock the girl jumped into a nearby pond. She died but the goddess that protects the children made her into a bird with the head covered with black soot from the earthen vessel and body a yellow as turmeric paste, the black hooded oriole. For this reason the Bengali name of the bird is "benebou" which means the merchant's wife.

This image is of immature black hooded oriole, in which the bird remains in non adult plumage for sometime. It was shot in Corbett tiger reserve with Nikon, Nikor 600 mm F4, @ F8, ISO 200, 1/400s

[Samrat Sarkar]

I really like the frame...story behind its bengali name is very funny and interesting...my mother used to tell this story in my childhood days..what is the story behind the name of "Sonabou" (Golden Oriole)!!..

samrat

[Debasis Bose]

Thank you Samrat! I have not heard of any story about Sonabou, but think because of its golden yellow colour it must have been named Sonabou

[Subhash Shrivastava]

Nice story. A fine image of an immature yet beautiful benebou. Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Interesting information. There is a magenta colour cast in this image. These birds have striking colours. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi