Bird stories, Emerald-spotted Dove (Turtur Chalcospilos)

This story originates from the Zulu tribes in South Africa. Now here we have got another bird with a very remarkable and somehow sad history amongst our people. It is a plump beautiful creature. This bird, our people say, is the bird of mourning, a bird of sadness, a bird of sorrow. It is a symbol of loneliness without hope, a symbol of somebody who has lost everything.
Zulus say that when this bird sounds off, it is saying “My family is dead, my children are all dead and now my heart goes DO-DO-DO”, slowly fading away. You should not look at or listen for the call of this bird. It was said that if you did heard such a bird, your whole family would perish.


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WildlifeCampus – African Folklore Course


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