Sources:
https://www.wirraminna.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Learning-About-Bush-Stone-curlews-FINAL.pdf
https://www.magneticislandtours.net.au/whats-all-that-screaming/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jun/24/australia.adrianlevy
https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100457351
https://whsrn.org/a-song-of-hope-for-whimbrel/#:~:text=Often identified as Eurasian Curlew,of “seven-whistler”.
https://www.jahernandez.com/posts/ulama-of-sri-lankan-folklore
The curlew as a harbinger of death by Bob Gosford. Originally published in The Northern Myth in 2010. Accessed via academia.edu.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZppvT9c-0Lo&ab_channel=Janegrowsgardenrooms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROh9-t5v89A&ab_channel=LiLi'swildlifespottings
Script:
An endemic bird that is just about everywhere in mainland Australia is the bush stone curlew. You often hear its shrill, eerie calls echoing in the night, sometimes mistaking it for a woman screaming. Though, there is a legend about this bird that is actually quite creepy.
This yarn is about the curlew, and the traditional legends that surround it.
(Play sound clip of curlews 10-15 seconds)
I remember when I was a little kid and was aware of curlews for the first time. I was like, I dunno, four or five, and I was brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed and I heard these things wailing. Being the little kid I was, I ran and told my parents that I heard people screaming outside. And my parents were like, “oh, that noise? They’re just curlews.”
Nowadays, I find the calls more annoying than I do creepy; especially when all I want to do is to get some sleep because I have work in the morning—and it’s not that easy when a curlew is right there by the window making its shrill calls. Sometimes I even have to bang on the window to shoo the poor thing away because they’re that loud.
Anyway, let’s move onto why you’re tuning in in the first place.
In my neck of the woods and other parts of the nation, Aboriginal people believe that the cry of the curlew is a sign of an impending death. Back in primary school, I remember having a conversation with a friend of mine about this. Her mother works at a nursing home, where there’s a number of Aboriginal elderly folks that reside there. My friend me told about how when curlews would start their birdsong in the early evening, the Aboriginal residents would start getting freaked out and anxious, and staff would have to calm them down and assure them that everything will be alright. But that’s from my neck of the woods.
Back in uni, I was with a group of friends, we were driving around late at night, and we heard a bunch of curlews singing out to one another and we had a conversation about the said legend. We were all from different parts of Australia, but we had a chat about the legend that hearing curlews was a death omen, so that belief is widespread.
Aside from being an omen of death, a curlew’s cry, in other Aboriginal folklore, can relate to crying over lost souls, or a significant loss.
There’s a paper I got my hands on, and it’s called The Bush Stone Curlew as a harbinger of death by Bob Gosford, and it’s here where I got one such legend about the curlew’s role regarding death and loss. A lot of this information for this episode is from this paper, so I gotta give credit where it’s due.
The following story is from the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin.
Back in the Creation, there was a family of three comprising of a man named Purrukapali, and his wife named Bima, and their young son, Jinani. However, the family wasn’t exactly functional, as Bima was having an affair with another man from the same camp named Japara. Often, she’d tell her husband that she’ll be out gathering food, it was actually an excuse to go and see Japara. Bima would leave young Jinani by a tree and then meet up with her lover in the forest.
But on one such rendezvous, it was a terribly sweltering day, and the young boy would eventually die of exposure to the elements while Bima and Japara were off together. Purrukapali would discover Jinani’s death and his wife’s betrayal, and as expected, became blind with rage. He struck Bima over the head with a throwing stick and chased her into the forest, blaming her for the death of their son. However, Japara stepped in and attempted to calm Purrukapali down by saying that he could bring Jinani back to life within three days, since death was not permanent.
Purrukapali refused the offer, and took out his fury on the other man. They exchanged violent blows and fought until both were exhausted, bloodied and bruised. Purrukapali picked up his son’s lifeless body, and walked backwards towards the sea. As he did so, he declared that death will come to everything living, and that they will never be able to be brought back to life again. He said, "you must all follow me; as I die, so you all must die.”
He perished in the ocean and turned into a large whirlpool that drowned every person that came near it. Meanwhile, Japara leapt into the sky and became the moon. He was doomed to die every three days, and the scars from the fight with his fellow clansman can be seen on the moon’s surface.
Lastly, Bima transformed into the bush stone curlew. She cries out in agony every night, regretting her negligence that killed her son, and yearning for the life she used to have.
Now another thing this paper talks about is how significant this legend is in the Tiwi community on both Melville and Bathurst Islands.
Just a disclaimer: from this point on, I do talk about suicide. It’s a real sensitive topic and and I understand if you want to stop listening right here. Look after your well-being and your mental health. It’s important. I’ve put a few resources in the show notes that may help if you need it, but if you know of any more, please share with the rest of us.
Okay. So apparently, this legend of Purrukapali has influenced the Tiwi culture, and not in a good way. In the mid 2000s, the Tiwi Islands had one of the highest suicide rates in the world. There was a huge spike in attempts and unfortunately, successful self-terminations, and a lot of the reasons that these people decided to try and take their own lives was due to family disagreements, relationships problems, and loneliness.
One young man had climbed up a tall electricity pole and ended his life by leaping off it. His cousin stated that prior to the suicide, the young man had been ranting and rambling on about hearing the haunting cry of a curlew.
Another man tried to end his own life by going out into the ocean and attempting to drown. Fortunately, his attempt was unsuccessful, but it mirrored the way Purrukapali ended his life in the creation legend. Additionally, there was one other man that had also climbed up a pole, yammering on about hearing curlews. But luckily, he was talked into climbing down.
The community feared that the young folks that dabbled in suicidal behaviour were influenced by the legend of Purrukapali and the first curlew, and wanted to re-enact it. Young folks felt a deep sense of hopelessness, and suggested to one another to do as their ancestor did.
But of course, the legend isn’t the only cause of suicidal ideations in the community, as substance abuse, neglect, and limited access to mental health services were also factors. On the bright side, in more recent times, the Tiwi community has turned around and are now working on suicide prevention and improve the mental wellbeing of the people, especially the young ones.
But it’s actually disturbing that two of these instances involved the people rambling on about curlews, and it further adds the negative connotations of death regarding the bird.
The Aboriginal superstition of the curlew’s relation to death is parallel to other superstitions in the world.
For instance, in England, there was the superstition about the ‘Seven Whistlers’. The seven whistlers were believed to be a group of seven mysterious birds that make shrill, eerie calls as they fly, and is believed to be an omen of impending death or disaster. Miners and sailors that heard the cries of these birds refused to work or disembark to sea the following day, as they’d rather not take the risk. One of the birds believed to make the creepy, high pitched calls are surprise, surprise, the Eurasian Curlew.
Another legend about a creepy bird call can be found in Sri Lanka. Apparently, there is a bird dubbed the devil bird that has a call that sounds like a woman screaming. Much like the curlew, hearing the devil bird’s shrill cry is believed to be a sign of imminent death. The real devil bird is believed to be a spot-bellied eagle owl, but there is debate as to whether it’s another species of bird or even a cryptid.
Even though I’m no longer creeped out by the curlew’s evening calls, I can’t help but still think that they sound quite haunting and eerie, especially when you’re lying down in the dark, with just you and your thoughts. Different legends depend on the Aboriginal tribe and culture, but it’s uncanny that a lot of them believe that the bush stone curlew has something to do with death.
But in regards to creepy bird calls being bad omens, I wonder why that is though. This is just my speculation as a layman, but a lot of bird calls during the day are quite melodic or alerting. Anyway, compare a pee-wee (play sound) or a peaceful dove’s call (play sound) in the day, to the melancholic, echoing call of a curlew at night (play sound). There’s a fair contrast to how the notes are strung together. The curlew sort of gives off a sense of hopelessness. But that’s my own personal theory.
And you can imagine someone not familiar with the curlew would hear it for the first time. It’d likely freak them out and they’d probably think it’s a blood curdling scream. Apparently, a tourist on Magnetic Island even the called the police after hearing what they thought was a woman being attacked, when it turned it was only a curlew making itself known.
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for now. Have you heard about the curlew death omen your neck of the woods? And if you’re a listener from outside of Australia, do you have a similar superstition from your country? Let me know!
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So I better let you go do your own thing now. Take care of yourselves and ignore the strange craft hovering over house tonight. It’s just me paying you a visit.
See you later!
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