Black-hooded oriole facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Black-hooded oriole |
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Oriolus
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| Species: |
xanthornus
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The black-hooded oriole (Oriolus xanthornus) is a beautiful bird from the oriole family. These birds live in warm, tropical parts of southern Asia, including India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. They like to live in open woodlands and areas where people grow crops.
Black-hooded orioles build their nests in trees, and usually lay two eggs. They mostly eat insects and fruits, especially figs. You'll often find them high up in the trees where they spend most of their time.
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About the Black-hooded Oriole
Naming the Bird
The black-hooded oriole was first officially described in 1758 by a Swedish scientist named Carl Linnaeus. He gave it the scientific name Coracias xanthornus. Linnaeus also named the group of birds that orioles belong to, called Oriolus, in 1766.
The name Oriolus comes from a Latin word meaning "golden," which makes sense because many orioles are bright yellow. The second part of its scientific name, xanthornus, comes from ancient Greek words meaning "yellow" and "bird."
This bird has a few other names too, like the Asian black-headed oriole or the Indian black-headed oriole.
Different Kinds of Black-hooded Orioles
There are five different types, or subspecies, of the black-hooded oriole. They live in different parts of Asia:
- O. x. xanthornus: Found from northern India to northern Malay Peninsula and Indochina.
- O. x. maderaspatanus: Lives in central and southern India.
- O. x. ceylonensis: Found in Sri Lanka.
- O. x. reubeni: Lives on the Andaman Islands.
- O. x. tanakae: Found on north-eastern Borneo.
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What They Look Like
The male black-hooded oriole is very striking. It has bright yellow feathers with a solid black "hood" covering its head. Its wings and the middle of its tail are also black.
Female black-hooded orioles are not as bright. They have greenish feathers on their underside, but they still have the black hood. Young birds look similar to the females, but their undersides have dark streaks, and their black hood isn't as solid, especially on their throat.
The black head of this oriole helps tell it apart from the Indian golden oriole, which visits northern India in the summer. Orioles can be a bit shy. Even the bright male can be hard to spot among the yellow and green leaves in the treetops.
When a black-hooded oriole flies, it's strong and flies in a straight line, sometimes dipping a little over longer distances. This is a bit like how a thrush flies.
When looking for food, these birds pick insects off leaves and wood, or they might fly out to catch insects in the air.
Orioles and People
Black-hooded orioles often live close to people in both the countryside and cities in India.
There's an old folk tale from Bengal about this bird. It tells of a girl who was treated badly by her mother-in-law. She covered herself in turmeric paste and a sooty pot, then sadly ended her life. A goddess brought her back to life as a black-hooded oriole. Because of this story, one Bengali name for the bird is "benebou," meaning "merchant's wife," and another is "haldi pakhi," meaning "turmeric bird."
