Black Hooded Oriole

Common Name: Black Hooded Oriole
Binomial Name: Oriolus Xanthornus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Family: Oriolidae
Bengali Name: ইষ্টি কুটম/ বেনে বউ/ খোকা হোক/ আমপাখি/ হলুদ পাখি
IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern
Status in Birbhum, WB: Native
Click @ Outskirts of Santiniketan, West Bengal, India
==========================================
Nikon D750
Nikon AFS 500MM F5.6 PF ED VR + Nikon 1.4x TC E III @ 700mm Handheld
f11_1/4000s_ISO 3200

==========================================
A Bengali name for the bird is "benebou" or merchant's wife while another name is "haldi pakhi" or turmeric bird. In Bengal the bird is named with two wonderful names and in both the name they has two wonderful folklore. Story behind IstiKutum (ইষ্টি কুটম) is – people in the villages believes that if anyone sees the bird in their courtyard, this is the sign that guest will visit their house. Story behind the second bangla name Benebou (বেনে বউ) is – An unfortunate wife of a village merchant used to be tortured by her mother-in-law. Her mother in law used to make her starve even for a minor mistake. On such aoccasion when she was making Pitha(a special hand made sweet/cake like traditional Bengali food) the lady/girl could not bear the hunger and start eating directly from the cooking vessel as her mother in law was out of sight. Her Sari was already stained with the turmeric used for cooking. To her utter surprise when she saw her mother in law saw her eating the ‘Pitha’ she got scared and jumped to nearby pond an 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 (holud pakhi), the black hooded oriole. For this reason one of the Bengali name of the bird is “benebou” which means the merchant’s wife.