May 24 2013
A widow with one daughter was always warning the girl that she must be sure to get a good hunter for a husband when she married. The young woman listened and promised to do as her mother advised. At last a suitor came to ask the mother for the girl, but the widow told him …
May 11 2013
The Ainu, the indigenous people of northern Japan, believe that the owl is an omen of good luck and that if a person hears the sound of rain falling when walking beneath a branch where an owl is perched, he will become rich. Other Ainu stories explain why owls hate rats. An owl had put …
May 09 2013
The Sahaptin tribe of Washington State tell the story of the children and the Owl. Once upon a time there were a man and a woman who had two children, a boy and a girl. One day the woman came home quite late. She was very thirsty, and asked the children to get her some …
May 03 2013
Blakiston’s Fish Owl (Ketupa blakistoni) is one of the most important gods of the native Ainu people of Hokkaidu, in Japan. It is called “kotan kor kamuy”, which means the “god of the village” or “god who defends the village”. The next story stems from the Ainu. The tortoise in the sea and the owl …
May 02 2013
The Barn Owl (Tyto alba) known as xoch’, which is described as a nocturnal bird, white, size of buzzard or heron, the animal counterpart of witches, sign of death. The Jews believe that their cry causes the death of young children; so, in order to prevent this, they pour a vessel of water out into …
May 02 2013
If a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus), or buuj, flies into a person’s house, it is sign that someone in that house will fall ill. While the Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) is generally thought to be a bird that will bring you bad luck, it is a good sign for hunters. Among the Mopan, …
Dec 31 2011
Flores Scops Owl (Otus alfredi) Science Article 1 abstract The Flores Scops Owl Otus alfredi remained unreported for almost a century after its description in 1897, and skepticism developed regarding its validity as a species. In 1994 a fourth individual (a juvenile) was collected near the type locality, and an adult was independently mistnetted and …
Dec 31 2011
Forest Owlet (Heteroglaux blewitti) Science Article 1 abstract Re-evaluation of specimen and literature evidence established that only seven study skins of the Forest Owlet Athene (Heteroglaux) brama were ever collected, and only between 1872 and 1884. Examination of all seven specimens elucidated numerous diagnostic characters as well as the localities at which the species was …
Dec 31 2011
Brown Fish Owl (Ketupa zeylonensis) Science Article 1 abstract In the Western Palearctic (WP) region, Brown Fish Owl Bubo zeylonensis is one of the rarest and least-known birds. The species? range is huge, from the Mediterranean east to Indochina, but it is probably only in India and Sri Lanka that it is regularly observed. In …
Bird news© 2013 Planet of Birds.
