RE: ADSactly Folklore: The Bird of Doom
Really interesting post. Thoroughly researched and very well written.
I'm sure young people especially would enjoy it very much.
It is fascinating how peoples around the world will give meaning to seemingly disconnected events. We can see how the meaning of an own changes from one culture to the next, from bad omen to announcer of loss of virginity. I wonder who came up with those :)
The fascinating thing about supersticions is that even if the effect does not occur every time the cause is noticed people will continue believing.
Owls are beautiful birds in my opinion. They are unique among birds because of their eyes and plumage. I wonder if they feel as wise as we say they are :)
Owls are not very common in Venezuela, but we do have them.
The bird we associate with death, though, is the chaure. I have seen in many posts and websites that they show images of owls, but the chaure I know from my hometown is not an owl. It has a distinctive loud and shreeking voice that causes the alarm of anyone who hears it. It looks more like a falcon and its plumage is distinctively dark, usually brown.
I had not learned about the owls' eggs. Very interesting. They look huge for the bird's size.
I must admit I've never heard of this chaure bird. That's the beauty of this posts, the sharing of information.
And, no, I'm not sure owls are that wise :)
The Chaure looks like a chachalaca (Guacharaca) and unlike the owls, which are nocturnal birds, these ones can be seen during the day. The interesting thing is that the are rarely seen, except when they announce the death of someone in the neighborhood, or so people think.
It would be great to hear the owls thoghts to have an idea of how smart they really are :)
I don't know if in captivity/domesticated they learn to do tricks, like parrots or other domestic birds