Bird Photography · The Indian List
Old World Orioles
1 of 6 species photographed
Six species, and the family's calling card is the same in all of them: saturated yellow or gold plumage on a heavy-set, pointed-billed bird that sits well up in the canopy rather than low in cover. They are loud before they are visible — a rich, fluting whistle carries a long way through forest or garden canopy, and following the call is usually the only way to get eyes on the bird at all.
Three of the six on the India list are genuinely easy to confuse at a glance: a golden-yellow body with black in the wings and some black marking through the eye or nape. The differences come down to how much black frames the head — a full black hood, a narrow band through the eye to the nape, or (in females and immatures of several species) almost none at all — so a clean look at the face is worth more than the overall colour for pinning down which one is in the frame.
6Species in India
1Photographed
Canopy and treetopsWhere they sit
A fluting whistleHow to find them
Black hood vs black eye-bandField ID problem
The species
Indian Golden Oriole
Yet to uploadBlack-naped Oriole
Yet to uploadSlender-billed Oriole
Oriolus tenuirostris1 frame- Status
- Resident
- Range
- The Himalayan foothills of the Northeast, including Arunachal Pradesh
- Habitat
- Broadleaf forest and forest edge, often visiting flowering trees such as coral tree (Erythrina)
- IUCN
- Least Concern
Golden-yellow overall with black in the flight feathers and a narrow black band running from the bill through the eye to the nape — not a full hood. The bill is slim and slightly decurved, pale pink-based, which is the character behind the name and the main way to separate this species from the very similar Black-naped Oriole, whose black band is broader and whose bill is stouter.
FM0267
Tippi Orchid Research Centre, West Kameng, Arunachal PradeshPerched among coral tree blossoms, head turned to show the black eye-band and slender bill.
Black-hooded Oriole
Yet to uploadMaroon Oriole
Not yet foundPhotographs by Fareed Mohmed