Bird stories, Blue-black Grassquit and Blue-crowned Motmot

The Ch‘ol Maya believe the pich, identified by informants as variously the Melodious Blackbird (Dives dives) or Blue-black Grassquit (Volatinia jacarina), are said to sing to signal to a traveler that someone is ahead on the road.


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Hull, K. & Fergus, R. AN ETHNOORNITHOLOGICAL APPROACH TO HUMAN-BIRD RELATIONS AMONG THE MOPAN MAYA OF BELIZE. 2009.

The songs of the jutjut, or Blue-crowned Motmot (Momotus momota), a bird commonly found around sinkholes, is said to mean it is time to rest from what one’s activities, especially for those laboring in their fields.


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Kerry Hull and Rob Fergus. Ethno-ornithological Perspectives on the Ch’ol Maya. Reitaku Papers, vol. 17 pag 42-92, 2011


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