By Jenica Amalita
Birds have always been viewed with awe since ancient times, being credited as the heralds of new seasons, of renewal and spring, and even as messengers of gods. Being a prominent part of our everyday life, it is no wonder we have such a rich trove of folktales celebrating their presence and their absence due to varying ecological conditions.
As such, the collective disappearance of some bird species was something investigated, even by great thinkers like Aristotle, who finally concluded that in certain months birds morph into other species or hibernate until seasons changed.
Over time, modern innovations located these large scale disappearances to seasonal migrations, a fact that folk literature has recorded. Folktales also offer various perspectives, ranging from the divine to the ordinary.
The folkstory Why Birds Have No Homes narrates how a king and queen place a bet over what kind of birds they noticed flying – eagles or geese. The king finds out he is wrong,but deceives the queen and she is forced to leave the castle and wander around, leading to her demise. As she dies, she curses birds to wander about as she did, which is how the origin of birds migrating has come to be explained.
A popular Jataka tale The Tortoise and the Geese speaks of two beloved geese who are forced to leave their home when the pond they live by dries up, and decide to take their tortoise friend with them. The story highlights the impact of natural disasters on wildlife, forcing birds to migrate in search of new homes.
On the other hand, in the story of The Sparrow and Her Crumb, we find a resourceful sparrow preparing for her long journey overseas as she appeals to both powerful beings and forces of nature to help her retrieve a piece of grain to feed herself, showing the extent to which birds need to look after themselves as they undertake a long and arduous seasonal journey across lands and seas to ensure their survival.
And it isn’t just in India that the migration of birds is celebrated in folk literature. An Athabascan folktale Raven and Goose-wife tells the tale of a raven being separated from a goose he falls in love with because he is not a migratory bird, pointing to the biological drive for seasonal migration.
Another story, a Nordic legend, speaks of how the northern lights are a result of seven swans migrating too late and getting stuck in the frozen ice, highlighting the influence each organism has in shaping the environment and the importance of following the natural order, the breaking of which has long-lasting consequences.
Through these and other similar tales that have captured this global phenomenon, folk literature stands as a testament to biological processes that have governed our ecosystems for centuries, leading to shared understanding and eco-centric living.