The Sangihe Dwarf-Kingfisher has not been recorded since 1997 and it is probably in continuing decline because of habitat loss or already extinct. The species is described in Hume’s “Extinct Birds” published in 2012. Ceyx fallax and C. sangirensis were before 2014 lumped as C. fallax. No recent surveys (f.e Riley 1999, Faustino 2003, Burung […]
Bourns and Worcester in 1894 wrote the following account: We were so fortunate as to secure aseries of fourteen specimens of this rare horn-bill from Sulu and Tawi Tawi. The tail is pure white. All other parts black, the feathers of back and wings glossed with dark green. The bill in abult birds is coal […]
Java Blue-banded Kingfisher (Alcedo Euryzona) is a “new” species split of from nominate status to full species status in 2013. This Java endemic kingfisher is firmly bound to rivers in lowland forest which is lost in an alarming rate throughout its range. There is only one sighting known, in 2009, since the thirties, the population […]
A funny story about the hoopoe and the cuckoo is told by the Rumanians at the expense of the Armenians. It is said that in olden times the forefather of the Armenians had to flee for his life. So, taking all his belongings with him, and mounting on a horse, he rode away as fast […]
The tuft of the hoopoe’s head has given rise to a tale, similar to some extent to the story of the tail of the wagtail, and yet not quite identical. Like the wagtail, which originally had no tail, the hoopoe had originally no tuft on its head. But when the lark had her wedding, she […]
There are a good many stories told about the hoopoe, some of them in connection with the cuckoo. These two birds seem to be found very often together, and the people believe them to be a pair, the cuckoo being the male and the hoopoe the female bird. The following story is told of them. […]
When God had created all the creatures, he gave everyone the food which he thought best for them. When the turn of the hoopoe came, God said to her, “Thy food shall be millet seed.†The hoopoe was not satisfied. She did not think it was good enough for her. So God in his goodness […]
Googarh, the iguana, was married to Moodai, the opossum and Cookooburrah, the laughing jackass. Cookooburrah was the mother of three sons, one grown up and living away from her, the other two only little boys. They had their camps near a goolahgool, whence they obtained water. A goolahgool is a water-holding tree, of the iron […]
Ceyx was king of Thessaly and was son of Hesperus (Helios), the Day-star, and the glow of his beauty reminded one of his father. Halcyone, the daughter of Aeolus, was his wife, and devotedly attached to him. Now Ceyx was in deep affliction for the loss of his brother. He thought best, therefore, to make […]
Txamsem went walking, not knowing which way to turn. He came to a creek, and saw a house in front of him. It was a very nice house. He went toward it; and when he went in, he saw a good-looking young man who was making a hook. When Txamsem entered, the young man looked […]