Birds in folklores and mythologies

“Main kahan rukta hoon arsh-o-farsh ki awaaz se,
mujhko jana hai bahut uncha hadd-e-parwaaz se.”

— Urdu poem as uttered by the bird Huma  (written in the cover of Huma magazine)

During a phone conversation with my dad last night, he mentioned me about an Urdu magazine, Huma, which he used to read regularly in past. He told me Huma is name of a bird and it tickled my curiosity as to which bird Huma might be. So, I looked up the word, and found that Huma is actually “a legendary bird especially within Iranian mythology”  and “it is said to never come to rest, living its entire life flying invisibly high above the earth, and never alighting on the ground (in some legends it is said to have no legs)” ^[1].  Now, before delving further into this topic, I think I might as well make it clear that I’m not a believer of mythological stories or legendary characters and I don’t have any religious faith in them, whatsoever. I simply treat them as fictional characters that are part of any other fictional stories. My curiosity simply lies in their fictional persona and magical or extraordinary capabilities and in this case, as it is all about birds, I am naturally interested.

The Wikipedia article on Huma further linked to legendary birds in other mythologies such as:

• Fenghuang of East Asia is described as “… made up of the beak of a rooster, the face of a swallow, the forehead of a fowl, the neck of a snake, the breast of a goose, the back of a tortoise, the hindquarters of a stag and the tail of a fish. Today, however, it is often described as a composite of many birds including the head of a golden pheasant, the body of a mandarin duck, the tail of a peacock, the legs of a crane, the mouth of a parrot, and the wings of a swallow” ^[2]. Its representation in potteries and portraits is quite colourful and the combination of all the birds and other creatures mentioned above indeed makes quite an appealing look for a fictitious bird (not that ‘real’ birds with as much beauty and colours do not exist. Hint: Neotropical birds are flying gem).

• The Garuda of Hindu and Buddhist mythology is “… depicted as having the golden body of a strong man with a white face, red wings, and an eagle’s beak with a crown on his head.” ^[3]. The representation of Garuda is that of a combination of smart and bold Brahminy kite (Haliastur Indus) and Phoenix.

• The Phoenix of Greek mythology which “… obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor” ^[4], is probably the most popularly known legendary bird which I have mostly come across fantasy or magic-related books.

• Another legendary bird which interested me due its representation (a powerful combination of lion and eagle) is Griffon or Griffin, which is “ a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle” ^[5]. The representation of Huma and Griffin are quite similar in appearance, and Huma is actually described as a ‘griffin-like’ bird.

• The Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor, a collection of stories based on Arabic and Persian folklore (I have read the English illustrated version as a kid), mentions yet another legendary bird, Roc, which is a giant birds of prey. Roc is a “… bird of enormous size, bulky body and wide wings, flying in the air” ^[6]. The One Thousand and One Nights also contains a few stories mentioning Roc which I have yet to read.

There are many other legendary or symbolic representations of birds scattered throughout various mythologies and cultures but the basic symbolism of birds mostly signifies flight, beauty, nobility or powerfulness, which are true traits of any real-life bird as well. And, even after reading up so much about legendary birds and their extraordinary qualities, I still find real birds more captivating and interesting than their fictional counterparts.